Core Threads
by theaceoffire
Summary: A young boy in a dark cupboard is in great pain. An unusual power will allow him to heal himself, help others, and grow strong in a world of magic. Eventual God-like Harry, Unsure of eventual pairings. Alternate Universe, possible universe/dimension traveling in the future. Updated on weekends.
1. Hurt and Alone

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own Harry Potter, any characters within, or the general world of J.K. Rowling (And/Or Warner Bros. Company, as applicable). Most of this world was created from those works._

England seems like a normal country. The village of Little Whinging, found southeast and within shopping of London seems like a normal quiet village. Privet Drive, a respectable block of houses with neat driveways and quiet summers, seems like an upstanding and fine place to grow.

Number 4 Privet Drive was hell.

Not all of that house was condemned to evil. There were two floors, both neat and clean. A fine looking living room, filled with tiny trinkets old people seem to enjoy and pictures of an overly large child. A kitchen, few bedrooms, all normal and fine. But the stairs...

Under the stairs, was hell.

Darkness was normally a comfort. Darkness means that danger was not here, that peace, even a hungry and lonely peace, had arrived. Young eyes normally cried here, in this darkness. But right now a young boy with piercing green eyes was unable to cry. He was trying, under these stairs, in this cupboard, in this hell, but the tears would not come. Too much pain. His arm was wrong, he could feel the burns and the stings, it was not right. The rest of his body was hurt as well, but normal cuts and bruises didn't concern him anymore.

No one would come, he knew this. People didn't help those without names, people didn't even feed things like him if they could help it. But he wished, he craved someone to take the pain. The darkness used to be an ally, but right now it just helped him feel alone and scared and hurt. He could not cry, so he stared in the dark, unable to see, and focused on the pain.

The locks on the outside of his cupboard left him little else to do, and he had been hungry for so long it no longer even registered in his mind at night. But this pain was not the same, it was immediate and unforgiving. So he focused, and tried to push the pain away, from his world, from the dark.

In the absolute dark, there was a light.

The boy almost made a noise. Light was new. Light was not normal. And this light seemed odd, although he supposed he should have expected this. A "freak" like him would have something like an odd light. It was dim, it was weak, it was so thin it looked like a hair, but it was there! Soft, green, and slowly reaching down his right arm.

He was almost scared to move. He felt that shifting, thinking, even the thought of thinking could stop this wonderful light. Tentatively he tried to push the pain again.

The light dimmed. In a sudden panic, he thought, prayed, and begged the pain away, forcing every part of him to wish and hope that pain would go. Suddenly the hair became a thread, and began moving much faster, and stretched down his arm toward the pain! He almost smiled, he could FEEL the light in his arm. It was warm, it was singing, it was like that time he used a blanket before someone saw him. And it seemed easier to push it now, seemed easier to thicken this thread till he could see it pulsing.

He could feel it pulsing like a second heart beat, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

His body couldn't move any more, but the thread could. His overly large shirt, covered in dirt and grime, seemed to be invisible for this green light. It shone bright and clear, and it was almost to his pain.

As the thread touched, he saw it shatter inside his arm. This thin thread became thousands of spider silk thin wisps, and he could see a bone being coated with them. Everywhere the light touched a warmth spread, so warm it was almost uncomfortable. As more and more of his bone was wrapped, he could see a darkness in the middle. A gap. His arm was broken. The last punch from the Loud Man had broken his arm. His face almost fell in sadness, but the warmth from his light was pushing everything bad away. But what now?

He needed help. A broken arm meant more beatings, he would not be able to cook meals, clean the house, weed the gardens, clean the car, pick up Dudley's trash, and that was just the morning! He could not handle more attacks right now, he needed time to heal, time to fix first. He needed his arm fixed.

The light seemed to pulse, and suddenly it was gone. No, he could still see the light, but all feeling was gone, like it was a show on the tv he was not allowed to watch. Even as his wonder grew, the warmth came back, and he could actually see the light wrapped around his bones shift firmly. Torn bits of bone made a loud snap!

His arm bone was now lined up, but moving it seemed to have broken small bits off. Thankfully the green light only let him feel warm, like it was being bathed in something soft. Tiny hair like threads wrapped around each fragment of bone, and seemed to absorb it. No, not just bone... black pools of what was probably blood or torn muscle was also being absorbed and vanished by the light. Small cracks in the bone were appearing as well, as the green thread seemed to be pulling and tugging at the bone, cleaning it.

Apparently his arm had been hurt from many older beatings, this one was just the final straw.

He was glad he couldn't move, but this was amazing to watch. Never before had he seen anything as fascinating, and no one could beat him for seeing this! No one even knew this was happening! And the warmth was so new, so soft, so amazing. Many nights on this stained mattress had been cold, and he had grown accustomed to having no covers, of using his layers of too-large clothing to stay alive during the frostiest nights. This warmth was so soothing it felt sinful.

His arm suddenly felt odd. The green light had separated the two now cracked and pitted pieces of bone several inches away from each other. He could almost feel the light pulsing, as if it was angry that this bone was so short. He knew he should probably have been bigger, he saw how Dudley had grown (In so many directions) from the food the "freak" cooked. Now the light seemed ready to try and solve it.

His skin felt tight, his muscles felt stretched, and then the warmth of the light almost gracefully touched them, reaching hair like strands from the bone pieces and caressing his arm from the inside. Suddenly the light pulsed hard and twisted! From the top of his right shoulder, another thread raced from his chest, down his right arm, and seemed to explode into a net of green heat! Each hair of this net twisted as it tightened around the bone, filling tiny cracks, holes, and pits and twisting tightly down the arm. Some green threads that had wrapped around the two bones began lashing across that black gap, filling it thicker as his eyes watched, shocked.

As the holes filled with more and more light, a few green strands jumped down his arm and then darkened back into muscles and ligaments that had been hurt or strained from trying to hold his broken self together. His bone seemed to be almost woven with light now, wrapped like a bandage. But the warmth was starting to cool, and he was feeling more and more tired. His center almost felt cool, like he had stepped outside to weed the garden before the snow had thawed.

He could care less. His face seem etched with a grin, his first actual smile that he could remember, and his arm was feeling better than it ever had even as that beloved warmth began to fade. As he felt the grip of sleep begin to take him, he was almost startled to realize that he was happy that the Loud Man had threatened to keep him here in the dark for days. Hopefully that would be enough time to feel that warmth again.

~~~Core Threads~~~

He awoke early. He knew the Loud Man would wake last, the question was if they would force him to cook or hope he would die. He honestly hope death was the choice, it would give him time to try and do the warmth again. He reached under the loose edge of his special floorboard, and pulled out the plastic bag he had hidden from the trash months ago. He store his punishment food in there, along with the three bottles of water he had carefully hidden over time. Now was the time to use these resources, so much could be gained if he could stay strong enough. That warmth was a need for him now.

As he bit into one of the scraps of crusts that Dudley always had cut off his sandwiches, he tried to feel the light again. His chest didn't feel chilled any more, and his arm had never felt this good before. He grinned again, as he held his arms out. One was obviously much longer now, and didn't have any odd bumps or slight twists any more. And if he could do it once, why not again?

He felt through his body, feeling for the worst of the pain. Apparently much of it was already healed. It had happened before, but he now suspected it was the threads, the green warmth. Well, if nothing was hurt, he could pretend. He had pretended to be fine, full, happy. Pretending to be in pain was easy by comparison. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel his left arm as if it had been as hurt, no, MORE hurt than last night.

It was sudden, and his eyes were startled open. Unlike last night, when it had been so hard to even keep that hair of light alive, his thread was already leaping down his left side. It felt like he had untwisted an arm, or straightened a leg that had fallen asleep. The thread felt so natural, yes warm, but normal! Compared to last night, he felt like someone trying to lift a car and finding out it was made of foam.

He grinned unconsciously as he watched his left arm... but he couldn't see the glow. He started to frown. Last night had been beautiful, why could he not see it now? Was it because it was too bright? He closed his eyes, and he could see a faint sheen, but not the glorious thread from last night. Why?

His pain. Last night, he had felt pain in his whole body, but now he did not. His headache was gone, even from the punch he got in his left eye. He moved the thread up his neck, feeling cricks and creaks and that heavenly warmth. It had to be that the green light had been healing his eyes. That must have been why he could see the thread. As the thread moved up his neck, he could feel it moving toward his brain.

White light shone everywhere, so bright he couldn't scream. The warmth was his body, no, this warmth was the WORLD!

He didn't feel his body collapse back on the mattress, and he wouldn't wake today when his torturers made loud noises as they lived their wretched lives.


	2. Memories

Green. The world was green, and it was fog. He was surrounded by fog, and it felt warm and alive! How long had he been here? Years? Seconds? He looked down, and his body was nude. It didn't bother him, no one was here, nothing was here. Just him and the warmth. It pulsed, it was growing and twisting.

However, he felt a need to do something. He stumbled, his toes suddenly touching grass as a world was exposed before him. Everything was still green, but it felt familiar.

This was like the yard he toiled in, but it wasn't. The grass was thick, and it went on in all directions. He looked up, green fog fading as a blue clear sky stretched out. No sun existed. Still, the air smelled sweet, like that flower he had found once before the Thin Woman got angry and destroyed it. Lily? Yes, it smelled like Lily blossoms, and the wind almost caressed his face.

Time passed. He felt a little guilty enjoying this, laying on the grass. As the clouds rolled by, he could see images in them, but he felt so far away. They seemed to be the past, times he had been hurt or sad. He frowned. This was his sky, clouds should go away. He felt so strong here, so powerful. No cloud should make this place feel dark or overcast. He reached his hands up and thought. What would work?

He once saw a snow-globe, when he was even younger. Dudley had thrown it away, and he got to play with it for almost a whole day before it was taken. Even with a crack and leak, it had been pretty. He called his thread.

From his hands, many threads came forth. He was shocked, these threads were like ropes! Still, they felt like that one green hair-light he had controlled, a part of him. Using them felt like grabbing a cup of water he had just sat down, slightly out of sight. Almost automatic. The cloud he grabbed was pulled closer, and he leaned forward, trying to see what exactly this was.

The images got larger, and the rumble of thunder became voices. This was a memory! One of his Christmases, no less. The one where he got caught looking at the tree from the crack in the cupboard. Well, it was not really that unpleasant but it should not be here, just floating around. He cupped the cloud in his light, green threads wrapping tightly, weaving into a half sphere. With a smile he reached up and grabbed the cloud, now compressed into a tiny snow globe with text on the bottom, marking the time and contents.

He looked around. Where to put this though? Snow globes were fun, but he didn't want to look at this all day. And what if someone came in here, and tried to hurt his stuff? They always did before. He tried to think. What could he do to keep this wonderful place, but still protect and hide things?

A secret place. Like what his tiny room had turn into, but this one would not be dark. He reached under his feet and felt the grass. It continued for miles, so this would probably be safe, right? He stood, held his arms wide, and pushed the ropes of green warmth into the soil. A large square of grass raised as if on a hinge, and a polished set of wood stairs led down into a gleaming white coridor. He smiled a little, crisp green eyes filled with humor. Hidden didn't have to mean buried among lots of complex toys like Dudley's room, hidden only meant that it could not be found. He walked into the white corridor, and pulsed his light, making it reach forever under the soil. He knew that even digging above would not find this white wood hall, you had to find the entrance first.. and that is how the rest will work too.

Turning sharply, he went to the edge of the wood stairs and pressed lightly. They retracted smoothly into the wall, exposing what he knew would be here. Hell. The cupboard of hell. He pulled the door tall enough to enter without ducking, and walked into the tiny darkness. A wave of his threads and the wall became shelves, long and labeled with times and emotions. He gently placed his snow globe in a spot that felt right somehow. This is where such darkness should stay, alone. Not forgotten, he knew that forgetting never worked. He had tried to forget pain and hunger before, after all. No, this was right somehow.

He walked back outside and rubbed his hands together. This was probably going to take some time. His green ropes sailed through the air, pulling another gray cloud down to be placed away.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Could he feel tired? Hungry? How long had he been here? He had quickly decided that he was inside his own mind, the memories were a huge clue. He continued collecting and sorting the clouds, and each cloud he caught would play a memory. Most of these where as expected quite bad. Still he continued, as the grey clouds began to be categorized and left downstairs in hell. The sky seemed bluer somehow, and that made him feel even more warm. It also seemed to make it easier to control his ropes, and less time was needed between each snow-globe he made.

This next cloud however, was black. And this black cloud felt wrong. It dripped some sort of black ooze, and had small red lightning shards crackling around the edge. He firmed his jaw. This was NOT what he wanted in his sky. This would be bad though. A snow globe didn't seem right for this cloud.

He thought hard. Badness like this should be kept very controlled. It was not welcomed here. He tried to think of something evil like this cloud, something bad. As he thought back, he seemed to almost hear something, a woman. It seemed to come from this cloud. Could his ropes hold this though?

He threw his hands firmly forward, and wrapped this cloud as tight as possible. As it got closer, he could a woman screaming, a mans laughter, the cloud flashed a sickly and poison-like green. He watched in growing horror as some dark figure screamed words at this woman, a beautiful lady with red hair, who seemed to be protecting him. Words were not possible. It played several times before he could feel time passing again, and he crushed the cloud, trying to make it feel the anger, sadness, and pain he felt. That woman was IMPORTANT. He did not know why, but she had tried to help him, and this cloud was old! She could have been anyone, maybe even a friend! Maybe she could have saved him from the hell under the stairs if not for that back shadow of a man!

His eyes glowed green as the cloud became more and more compressed, ropes lost their grip and became threads, pressing and squishing this vile cloud into a small black pearl. He would not destroy this, this abomination. She deserved this moment to be remembered, maybe even avenged. The Red Woman would be remembered, but this cloud would not be tolerated.

He turned with anger, unaware that green threads carried the black pearl along, as he walked downstairs into the white wood hall. With a wave of his ropes a section of the white floor opened and a bright red carpeted stair opened into a cushioned room, the same red color as her hair. Her memory would rest here, protected and safe. His thread created a tall and simple black pillar, with a bed of his favorite flower, Lily. He gently placed the black pearl in the center, and stood in silence, anger on his face and tears in his eyes. He turned and headed up the stairs and to the grass filled world, breathing deep and trying to calm.

If there were many more memories like that, he may break. To have someone willing to help him was amazing. Maybe she would be in other places? Other memories? Still, better go back to lighter colored clouds for a while. He needed the break.

~~~Core Threads~~~

He began leaving some clouds in the sky. They were fluffy and white, and while a few required parts removed (Dark edges like being caught outside without working, or talking to others), most were just random things that he enjoyed. That cloud had his first memory of seeing a flower. That other cloud had images of a pretty night sky when the power had gone out in the village, and stars had been everywhere. He didn't even know he remembered these things, and watching those clouds float by made him feel cleaner, brighter, lighter. There seemed to be some older clouds in the distance, but they were so far away he decided to come back later for those.

He had been laying on the grass for a while now. Time seemed strange here, but he didn't want to leave yet. His control over the threads, ropes, and even thick cords now was much better. Apparently with less clouds, and without needing to fight the dark ones back, he was far more relaxed. He had however needed to create another room, a cupboard INSIDE his cupboard, for the darker Dursley moments, when the Fat Man, Thin Woman, and Dudley had done things to him that hurt worse than usual. He had actually put little prison bars on those snow globes, and just thinking about it had made him giggle a little. It was like having dozens of tiny bad people in jail in double hell, which was more than they deserved in his opinion.

He looked at his body. His right arm was still longer, and he had no doubt that the poor food and heavy work load had probably caused issues with all his other bones. The muscles and stuff he was not as worried about, that had been fixed almost by accident when he had been working on the bone earlier. Still, probably should do the most important ones first... which meant the head.

He knew he had been hurt up there a lot. When his vision went a bit bad after the frying pan incident, he knew something had not gone back right. Still he was a bit worried. What if it didn't heal right? If his head grew, would his brain be all right? His eyes?

Then again, if it went bad, what would he be risking? Dying now, on warm dirt and grass with soft scented winds under a blue sky? This would a better end than anything he could imagine even a few days ago. Heck, he would have fought for a death like this a few days ago, so why not risk this?

Firming his resolve, he pulled all his threads, ropes, and cords of light he had into his skull. The warm feel of the light was acting differently, apparently his light threads were not nearly this powerful outside his mind as here. He supposed that made sense, here he could do anything imaginable while out there he only had a single thread, or at least he did before cleaning up in his head. The power was more responsive though, and took much less energy to control. Moving away the distractions and not repressing the bad memories seemed to have greatly increased his ability to concentrate.

As the light began wrapping his skull, his inner world seemed to become brighter. Colors became stronger, scents brighter, even the soft noises of wind blown grass seemed crisper. Then the warmth began soaking into his brain. The world paused for a moment.

Suddenly everything was moving and staying still at the same time. It felt like the world was TOO REAL, the blue of the sky could almost cut his skin, the smell of the grass was hurting his ears, everything was more. He could faintly hear popping as parts of his skull broke, as his eyes slightly deformed, as his jaw unhinged. Even worse, he could actually feel some teeth moving, vanishing, and growing. But the pressure in his head was growing.

The world paused. Light dimmed, the colors darkened, his world became silent. As he slightly began to panic, he heard a scratching and looked up.

The sky was being torn. Like a dark finger, a black lightning bolt was being carved into the sky. Colors seemed to be fighting the edges, sounds were trying to slow it, but something was on the other side. It didn't seem awake, but by just existing it was trying to break into this world.

He felt shocked. This thing was worse than any cloud. It felt hurt though, like it didn't know where it was and couldn't think well. The boy with green eyes looked back down the stairs at the red room and suddenly realized the feeling of this new blackness was familiar. It was like that man.

That man had somehow left something here, in his mind. That woman had failed. Her life had not protected him.

No.

His green eyes began to glow as he looked back into the sky. The woman may have failed, but no one would ever know. He would rather die getting rid of this black evil than allow her sacrifice, her death, her GIFT to be tainted by failure. She had NOT failed, not while he had any say. Righteous anger, for the first time in his whole existence, filled him. He reached inside, and opened everything he had. Threads, ropes, cords, finally a BEAM of green light flashed into the sky.

The threads shattered into wisps, hairs, too small to see. They began exploring the darkness in the sky, mapping it, trying to gently surround it without warning or waking the slumbering blackness. Thick ropes peeled back the sky, giving extra room for the huge cords to pull inwards the large black mass.

It looked almost like an unconscious demon baby, twisted and black, clearly not awake. The flailing of it's arms created powerful wounds on his world, which healed nearly instantly with directed threads. The boy with green eyes took a deep breath, then moved a green cord directly into his own eyes. Unlike before, where he could only see thin threads within himself, he could now see an entire network of threads within the obscenity. This creatures light was like black ooze, and seemed twisted and cruel. The boy felt dirty even touching it with his pure green web, but he knew this thing needed to die. Malicious thoughts oozed off it, along with anger, rage, and other twisted emotions.

With green eyes burning, he raised his right arm and coated it with cords that began twisted around, faster and faster, like a drill. While the dark creature thrashed randomly in its bonds, the boy hesitated for a moment... then smashed his arm straight into the skull of the monster.

An explosion of blackness was the last thing the boy saw.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Pain. He was hurt again. His eyes opened, and he was grateful that he was still in his mind. The corpse of the creature was still there, deep in a crater that the green eyed boy had been thrown out of. It was not moving though, so that was good. Ooze was coming out of it, seeming to puddle into strange shapes against the will of gravity. Slowing forcing himself to sit up, the young boy groaned. There was a lot of damage. The sky had a hole in it, the ground was heavily cracked, there were scars in the earth, and there were several new clouds. And of course, a nice big black one dripping with goo that probably covered what he had just did.

He rested his hands on his head. This had somehow escalated way too much. He had just wanted to be warm and fix himself. To feel that warm softness. He reviewed his actions. Each step had made sense, except for that last one... it was strange how strongly he had felt the urge to kill, to destroy. It was not him, THAT was... oh.

He looked back at the black goo in the pit. Gently reaching out a thread, he touched it.

ANGER, RAGE, DEA-

Quickly he broke the green thread and left it to corrupt in the goo. Apparently the daemon thing trying to break into his head had been leaking some VERY negative emotions. He almost laughed, as the stress of the situation began to catch up with him. He had gone slightly nuts and homicidal because a dark creature was poisoning his mind with crazy thoughts. Said crazy thoughts had succeed, but since there was no one to hurt but the creature itself it had sort of backfired. This whole thing felt twisted.

Still, that goo could not be allowed to fester here. Raising pained muscles, the sore and tired boy created a glass bottle like the one the Loud Man had on the fireplace mantel, with a ship inside. He tried to throw out his cords, but only a few threads came out. His control was messed up bad because of all the damage. Still, it was enough to begin filling his bottle with black emotion goo.

~~~Core Threads~~~

There, one half filled ship in a bottle. He used his light to create a glass cork, sealing all that nastiness away. With a slight after thought and a slight grin, he also replaced the replica ship inside with a happy rubber duck. It felt right somehow.

His threads had done light healing on him while he had been collecting the goo. Still it hurt to move quickly, so he gingerly walked back to the grass entrance (Now slightly scarred) and down the white wood steps. He thought a bit, then turned to the left instead of the right side of the stairs. With a hand wave, this side revealed not a normal cupboard, but a metal door with no handle. His finger touched it and he passed through into a metal room with no seams, and created a small metal table, thin and made with shiny wires. On top he placed the Rubber Ducky Bottle of Doom. Looking around, he decided this would probably work for the corpse as well, since he would have no reason to come back here.

Back in the grass fields, now at least partially the giant-hole-and-grass fields, he lifted the corpse and compressed it. After it was tiny, he had another thought that made him grin.

When he left the metal room downstairs a second time, the Rubber Duck had a solid black (Formally evil baby) top hat.


	3. Funds and Resources

Under the stairs, green eyes opened. He felt sore over much of his body, and his forehead felt sticky. Wiping it with his sleeve showed a black, oily substance that had oozed from his forehead. If he had seen a mirror in the last few years, he felt sure that it was from that irritated scar, the same one that never healed. After seeing the dark thing that had been inside it, he didn't really feel shocked that it had stayed painful.

He frowned. Something was different. Scratch that, a LOT of things were different. His body had not gone through the whole warmth treatment his arm and part of his scull had done, but he still felt changed. Carefully examining himself, he realized that forcing that creature must have filled him with light. Many small aches and stiffness was gone, and his face, especially the parts closest to where the scar had been, felt amazing. He had been pushing a lot of light through that area, so it seemed reasonable.

He also was thinking more clearly. Who knew how much brain damage he had healed during that fight, and his eyes felt very odd. Looking at his arm he felt a little stunned. While before he could barely see a green glow, now he could see a network of wisp thin green threads curling around his skin, muscles, bones. It felt the same. He looked around and realized how much he could SEE.

The crayon marks on the wall from years past were clear, the small spiders that hid in the corners, the nails that always seemed to catch his skin, all of it was clear, more clear than he had ever seen before.

Of course, this was made much more impressive since the only light was coming in under the edge of the cupboard door.

His examination came to an abrupt end as he realized that it must have been some time since he had last moved. More importantly, since he had last visited a bathroom. He glared at the door of his prison. Making noise would only cause a beating, and if they had not tried to move him or give him a break, then they intended him to make a mess so they could punish him for it later. Or die. Either way, the only outcome of complaint would be pain.

However, he had just smashed an evil monsters brain in with a light drill. Doesn't matter how or where he did it, he was not going to be beaten by a cheap lock from some hardware store.

He pressed his hand firmly against the hinge, and reached for his thread. To his glee, two came down his arm and to his hand. Even as sore and pained as he felt right now, he had improved his control. Coiling the threads around each finger, he felt them become solid and hard. He pressed each digit firmly against the rusted metal henge. Instead of slicing his flesh, the metal began squeaking as he pulled first the top and bottom hinge apart. Leaving the cupboard locked, he pushed the hinged side into the house and silently listened for any changes.

The Loud Man could sleep through anything, and the Thin Woman had to sleep through the Loud Man's snoring. So sneaking involved avoiding Dudley, which required no real effort. If one covered the overweight child in jam, MAYBE he would roll over. Now that he thought about it, just about any noise would be ignored since he was supposed to be locked away. Each person upstairs would blame noises on the others, as long as the noises didn't come from the hell under the stairs.

He pulled off what clothing he had and left it in his hell. Getting caught nude would not increase any punishment if caught, but he could not risk clothing catching or making noise. He ghosted up the stairs, and moved to the shared bathroom.

~~~Core Threads~~~

He left the bathroom, silently closing the door. He had been too afraid to turn on the lights, but after a very tense session he had felt worlds better. He also had risked using the sink, cleaning his face and much of his upper body of the grime and dried blood that he had grown accustomed to. His mind however felt strange. Unlike usual, he seemed to be overflowing with ideas and thoughts now. Before the changes, he had to carefully focus on his actions or make mistakes, sore muscles twitching at bad times, tired limbs losing their grip. Now however...

He needed to keep getting better. The changes so far were good, but he was still a broken person in many ways. He tried to prioritise his objectives. Leaving was an option, but an unknown. Probably best to heal here, where the dangers (While numerous) were known and avoidable. He also knew the Dursley family did not notice things, or at least things they wished were not true. Dudley stole money and blamed him, he ate anything he wished whenever he wished, and he got anything he wanted but cared little for it. This was a gift.

The young lad reached Dudley's room, and pressed his finger near where the hinges should be on the door. A green thread reached his finger, and he willed it to reach the few inches on the other side of the door. It was almost too warm, his finger felt like was close to burning, but pain was an old friend. Ignoring the warmth, he grinned as he could see a hair of the thread reach INTO the wood of the door and begin to coat the hinge, a layer of light separating the metal and hopefully keeping the door silent.

Quickly repeating his actions on the other two hinges, he reached up and cautiously opened the door and peaked inside. The snores inside the dark room were much louder now, and the heavy mass on the bed seemed to be punishing the sad mattress. A slight noise forced the quite child to stop, and he looked at the floor. Toys and clothing covered the floor, a mine field of dangerous noises could be created here. Moving cautiously inside, he saw a worn path of carpet only slightly covered with shirts and such, probably created as the large one kicked things away as he got up in the morning and attacked the day. He followed the trail to the dresser, and more importantly to the large jar on top filled with bills.

The boy knew Dudley could not really count, or rather never bothered to put in the effort. If he didn't have enough, he would simply complain until one of his guardians gave it to him. Probably hitting the "freak" in the process. As long as the jar seemed roughly as full, no money would be missed. Moving deliberately and smoothly, he opened the jar and began sorting the cash onto the dresser. Bills where easiest to hide, so he quickly made a pile of all the £5 and £10 notes to refill the jar. Honestly, he was more than a little shocked at the amount of money here, considering that the large child never actually spent this money, he simply asked for things and got them. Aside from the expected £20 notes, he even found three £50! Shaking his head at the waste, he put all the low bills and a few of the larger ones back, keeping a total of about £320. He stressed his eyes and looked over the room for anything useful before leaving.

Near the edge of the pile where a few wallets, in or around a small pile of large pants. Dudley tended to lose things in here, so it was not really surprising that he had duplicates of almost anything he used regularly. Choosing a simple thin black one, he opened it to find even more bills, £25 worth of £5 and £10's. Apparently it had not been worth the trouble of putting the cash into the jar. Checking the other wallets gained him another £55, and he was honestly more than a little surprised to be coming away from this pit of a room with £400. He would probably be able to increase it by checking here regularly, as he knew Dudley would simply ask for more rather than search for lost money. Storing his bills into a now much thicker wallet, the boy grabbed one of the smaller pillow case covers from the floor. The larger boy tended to just throw away things than bother asking someone to clean them, and this would become a very useful bag.

He silently moved downstairs, each step pressed on the outside where the nails went into the woodwork to avoid squeaks.

~~~Core Threads~~~

It was time to gather some food and water.

Stowing the wallet under the floorboard in his hell cupboard, he moved into the kitchen. While he personally cooked most of the meals, the men in the house had not grown to the large size they held today by eating sparingly. Ready to eat food filled the pantry and shelves, and although not amazingly healthy it was filled with preservatives and didn't need to be refrigerated. His small hands almost quivered as he began to fill his sack, trying to focus on the mostly healthy stuff since that tended to be ignored and eventually thrown out. Energy bars (Dudleykins needs his energy!), muffins, jerky, packaged breads filled with jams and such. This pantry was so forbidden that the boy had been slapped for walking too close once.

His hands almost shook as he hid the full sack under the stairs in the cupboard. Only the Thin Woman could fit in here, and the filth promised she would never try. As long as it could not be seen from outside, as long as they did not see evidence, he could store what he liked here. He grinned as he pulled out his emergency bread and scraps and buried them in the kitchen garbage. He felt real progress was happening here. Moving back to the pantry and ignoring his sore stomach, he found the section filled with bottles of water, juice, and sweet drinks that Dudley seemed to be grown on. Over twelve bottles of water and six bottles of orange juice went into his hell. He felt almost giddy with success at this point. Grabbing another bag of jerky, a bottle of apple juice, and two muffins, he headed back to his cupboard. Grabbing the hinged side of the hell door, he pulled it closed using the edge and slid the now less rusty hinges back into place. With no damage on the lock, with nothing missing that the angry family would care about, with no evidence AND them currently trying to kill him through avoidance, he had never been safer. He decided his hidden floorboard would become his wrapper trash bin for now, so even if they found it they might not find the wallet.

His smile seemed etched into his face now as he placed small bites of seasoned meat in his mouth. He felt more alive right now than he had for months, and he wanted this to continue. As he ate he decided that immediate curing would help any other plans he could imagine, and he might even be able to build up food and money now. The ability to sneak away vastly increased his options as well, but healing would only make him stronger.

Finishing his food and drinking the apple delight, he piled the trash into his former treasure hole under the floor board on top of his new wallet, and made himself more comfortable. He felt much more prepared to address the damage that baby daemon had caused, and he was not going to let some jerk mess up his wonderful grassland. Pulling the warm light green threads into his neck again, he felt them wrap around his brain again as he slid back into whiteness.


	4. Mind and Body

The world was green again. He fell forward and felt his toes digging slightly into grass and dirt, his hands reaching and holding him up. He had expected returning here to be harder, to require more effort than this. He stood and began to take stock of the damage.

The sky was still torn from the blackness, with thin dark cracks like unmoving lightning crossing the heavens. The corpse explosion had roughly dug into the sod, leaving a jagged crater. Even without the evil sludge, the crater felt rough and torn. Smaller piles of grass and earth had been tossed by the explosion, coating the ground and a few pieces had even dropped into his wood basement hall. But the worse part was the sky.

He frowned as he looked around. Before there had been a single pulsing dark cloud, but now there seemed to be many lighter clouds, creating a sort of storm. The existing white and fluffy memories were holding them together, apart from each other, but it didn't feel right.

Almost absently he stretched his right hand, and a light gray cloud etched in dark black was yanked from the heavens. It seemed to be a memory, but it felt tainted, twisted. Just trying to view it caused him to feel dirty. But he couldn't leave this here, especially if it felt so wrong. He formed a new glass bottle from his green threads and took a firm hold on the dark recollection. Twisting it like a towel, he squeezed the cloud. Black anger, rage, even cries of victory and defiance oozed into the bottle. As he finished, he used new cords of green light to cleanse his own threads of the goo, shoving it all into the bottle that was now labeled with the contained emotions, a date, a time, and a place. He sealed the bottle and set it aside, and examined the left over pieces of memory.

Before the thought had dripped with anger, as the dark man was punishing someone for some perceived slight. Now the cloud seemed dull and gray, like an old black and white silent film. The voices and actions were still recognizable, but the feelings and fear and terror had been separated and stored. That daemon baby must have released this cloud here on its death, or the original memory must have collapsed into smaller fragments now that the intelligence restraining it had died.

The memory had no real use for the green eyed child, so he compressed it into a gray sphere. Wrapping both sphere and glass bottle with his green threads, he climbed downstairs into the wood hall and passed through the metal door into the evil duck room. Waiving a hand of threads at one of the walls, he created a row of shelving marking time, place, and emotion and a small plaque labeled "Evil and Not Useful". Torture had no appeal to him, he did not really even want to hurt the horrible people who he suffered under. Just live and let live. Still, he found the place where this bottle of evil would rest and placed it on a stand. Glancing back at the stand with the duck, the boy gave another grin. He had a pattern going, right?

As he left the room, the bottle now had the gray memory (Now duck shaped) floating on the hatred that used to saturate it. He sighed as he exited upstairs, watching the sky that seemed filled with clouds again, many with black edges. Seeing no point in delaying, he grabbed a new memory and began creating more glass bottles. He had a sinking suspicion that he was going to have a LOT of new duck friends in the metal room.

~~~Core Threads~~~

It was seconds or years later. Time did not seem to move as expected in his mind. He tried to deal with all the dripping clouds first. After finding more than a small amount of torture, he quickly learned not to review them. Each got squeezed, ducked, an stored. After hearing a woman crying, he had looked more closely into another cloud.

He had vomited twice. Creating that bottle taught him to just store them and move on. Any that had a similar color he also shoved into a locked cabinet in the metal duck room, sealed and bound using his own memory cloud of WATCHING that memory, turned into a knot. He could not help her, no one could now, so he used the memory of him being horrified, disgusted, and angry as a warning to himself to not look within. He still could guess how many other women, or even children, had suffered under that monster. That cabinet was filling quickly, and that fact alone was scary to him.

In a way the torture was easier to watch. He had experience with pain, with degradation. He had come to terms with it in his own life already. But watching others forced to hurt loved ones, watching offenses to innocents, it was too much. He stored them away, categorized and locked with his own warning keeping him from growing curious about what was in the dark cabinet.

Eventually he ran out of those colored clouds, and his relief was almost spiritual. He was glad he had only let those things loose for a short time, it could have twisted his world and stained it with horrible sludge.

He did have some unpleasantness to handle though. He had found the companion memory of the Red Woman, from the killers point of view. He had been avoiding it, but the lightning told him clearly which one it was.

With only a slight hesitance and a shaky hand, he sent cables of green light around the cloud and began to drain it.

~~~Core Threads~~~

He had been sitting in the red room for a while now. He should probably do something. He would probably think about it later. The memory had been large, much larger than the shred he had. It had apparently been the last memory of a man who was called Voldemort.

It was also the last memory of James Potter and Lilly Potter. And apparently, one of the first memories of him, Harry Potter.

He stood staring at the new podium in the red room. He had managed to create two images from the memory, and painted them in color on the wall. A man with wild black hair, deep hazel eyes, and a thin body was standing with anger and defiance. He was a pillar of strength in a room filled with damage and the remains of a home. Hand outstretched, a wood stick flaring with light, and his shoulders held firm. It was just before he had been struck by the green light.

To his right was the Red Woman. Her hair was dark red and flaring, and almost blended into the painted walls of the room. Her body was wrapped around him, the "freak" Harry, the little babe who seemed so confused. Her crystal green eyes had defiance in them, and they glowed like his threads.

He had stared for a long time. Several dreams were now impossible. No, his parents did not die in a car crash. But they would also not be coming to take him home. They would not be able to save him.

After some time, he raised his shoulders. He had been alone till now, nothing had changed. No, that was not right. HE had changed. He had unknowingly hurt part of the creature that had assaulted his... his Dad. His Mom. His family. And they had not fallen apart, they did not give up just because there was no options. He was Harry Potter, son of James Potter and son of Lily Potter, and by God he was going to become someone they could be proud of.

He waved his hand, filling the room with lily flowers. He changed the gray memory of their final hours into a tomb stone, with their names under each image on the wall. Harry would do them proud, and the first step was to become whole and healed.

Striding up the red carpeted stairs, he sealed the room. After he cleaned his world, he would search the oldest clouds. Maybe more memories existed. But for now, he had work to do.

~~~Core Threads~~~

The sky had been easiest to fix, if tiring. Harry laid on the green grass and stared into the blue sky, trying to ignore the holes and pits. Moving the broken sod and grass back had taken only a little time, but apparently the initial corpse explosion had evaporated a large section of earth. This type of damage was also resistant to change.

He had nearly cooled his body center too much. As it was he was shivering, and his threads could barely move. It had only healed a few inches of the pit. He thought about the sludge he had seen, the pure hatred. It had felt wrong to let that soak into this ground.

What about the opposite?

He reached out, feeling. The warmth filled him again, and he pressed his hand into the hole and imagined all that softness, the heat, the pure warmth flowing from his hand. His eyes slowly opened as he began to fall asleep, lulled by the feeling of that deep soft warmth. Something golden and clear was dripping from his right hand, slowly trickling into the pit. The liquid seemed to be softening the edges of the pit, and working its way downward.

Before he could really react, he fell asleep. The emotion stress, the mental stress of controlling the cords and threads, the highs of having a mostly safe place to sleep with food and water, it was forcing him to fall into an actual slumber instead of this mental world.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Soft winds brushed his hair as he woke. Still here in his mind, stretched with his hand dipped in... dipped?

His eyes opened wide as he stared with wonder at a golden pond. The bottom itself seemed to glitter with silver pebbles and tiny gold beads, the edges pulsed with curiosity and mirth. The actual liquid itself was crystal clear, and glowed softly back into the sky. The edges of soil had collapsed into the liquid, filling cracks along the bottom and creating a natural beach along the rim made of earth.

Harry was too entranced by the light to even smile. His hand dipped into the liquid. It was not oily, it was so light it barely felt like water at all. He felt warm all over, and his body was almost begging him to step into the pond. Cautiously extending a green thread, he dipped it in the pool.

WAMRTH, LOVE, KINDNESS, CHARITY

He was overwhelmed. It was not even associated with a memory, it just felt like the Red Woman... mother. It felt like her.

He couldn't help but smile as tears spilled. He smoothly stood and began walking into the pool. Even with it flowing around his body, Harry didn't feel the damp, pressing feeling of the ice baths he was forced to take. Every inch felt soft and warm, like an embrace. He had never felt a hug before, but he was sure this was close.

He dipped his face under, and the crystal gold liquid did not even splash. He felt no fear of breathing, and let the liquid flow almost like a dream down and into his lungs. His body relaxed more and more.

Deep inside, in his chest, he felt something loosen. Threads began flowing out of him, in every direction, from his hands, his feet, his skin. His eyes glowed green like his mothers, and the golden glow began increasing as each part of him began making odd noises. His ears heard singing, even as he could feel his skull popping and cracking. His tongue tasted sunshine as his back unbent and began stretching. But Harry's eyes were seeing blurs, people he knew without sight, as they held and surrounded him. His tears vanished as if kissed as he released more and more green light into the pond, causing the gold liquid to swell and deepen, the edges of the once crater expanding and absorbing more grass as the golden lake began expanding into the distance.

It could have been a lifetime and Harry did not care. This was something he never knew enough about to miss. This was love, deep and flowing. And he had accidentally made a place for it inside himself. His smile could have painted the sun.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Inside a cupboard a soft green glow was expanding. It seemed dark in places as the body it covered twisted and uncoiled. Horrific noises were just barely audible, with loud cracks of broken bones puncturing the night. Fragments were being dissolved, muscles being regrown and skin being repaired. Scars began sealing and small pieces of embedded glass and dirt were being expelled. As the twitching body seemed to absorb the green glow, the strangest part was the boys face, filled with peace and dripping with tears.

Another day was beginning, and thankfully Vernon Dursley was not planning on allowing the "Freak" out of his punishment. Every time he had looked at the child, something evil seemed to dwell inside of him, looking out from behind those eyes. Even Petunia could not explain it, but sometimes when that boy looked in his direction he could feel a second pair of eyes full of maliciousness. The worst was the blackouts. Once that devil child had looked into Vernon's eyes and everything had gone dark. Large red eyes laughed at him. When he had come to his senses, there had been blood on his hands and a pile of rags... no, the "Freak", on the floor. He had never been more scared in his life. He was just a regular man who worked directing others to make drills. Violence had never been an option before that THING appeared on the doorstep.

Petunia explained that those CHILDREN had flairs of magic. If that was magic, magic was evil. Even she had given up arguing for that thing after she also started blacking out. They had no one to talk to, no one to get help from. Who would help them against a child? Their only hope were those wizards, and they had been the ones to dump this hell spawn on them.

This last blackout was the worst. Petunia claimed he had not just beaten the child, but had stood in his own bedroom and ranted about "Mudbloods" to the wall. He didn't even remember SEEING the child that day. He was scared to even touch the locks.

He knew the guilt would get to him eventually. He couldn't just let that thing die in there. But surly he could wait a bit longer. As long as Petunia didn't find out what he had done.

He held his head in his hands and tried to calm down. He had things to do today, and that THING would not be an issue for at LEAST a couple more days, not if he had anything to say about it.


	5. Red Threads and Exercise

The boy with green eyes awoke as Harry Potter for the first time. He still did not know his age, but now his name was now forever a part of the world. He sat up and almost hit his head on the roof of his small cupboard. Green eyes looked up in shock. He was larger, much larger than last night. He knew he was supposed to be similar in age with Dudley, so being such a shorter person was something he had come to terms with. He grinned again as he listened outside.

Somehow he knew it was late. Exact time was unknown, and he wanted to take care of that tonight. Somewhere in Dudley's room had to be a few watches, maybe some books or something else that could help improve himself. Harry knew help would have to be taken, and he now had motivation in spades.

He could still hear movement in the house though, so he decided to try and find a way to improve while still here in hell.

Reaching for another bag of jerky and an energy bar, Harry slowly ate his fill as he drank some water and considered what to do. Avoid doing anything loud was an obvious requirement. Working on control of the threads was another. He wanted the same type of control here that he had in his mind, the ability to move and control that light.

As he chewed slowly on the meat, he admitted to himself that the green color was another big motivator. It felt like his mom was watching over him when he was wrapped in those threads, or swam in that golden light. He felt like it was a small part of her she had given him, and he was eager to practice.

He held his right hand out. Nearly instantly a dozen threads thickened along the thousands of thin green hairs that lived in his body. Now that he could see down to such fine detail, he didn't have to keep creating NEW threads, just empower some existing ones. As they moved from the pattern, the existing ones would simply split and rebuild. Much faster and easier than creating new ones from scratch.

It was much harder having the threads LEAVE his hand though. Finally he stopped trying to force it and started building up the thickness of a single thread. Eventually it built up to near rope size, and he was feeling a warning of strong heat in his arm. He frowned in concentration as he moved the rope around, feeling small changes occur in the thread network of his arm. Where the rope touched he almost felt a pain as the light was stretched and expanded. Still, when he moved the rope back it felt much less sore.

He gave a small smile. Clearly he needed to increase the size of the threads before he could do the things in his head. It seemed that repeated use was a great way of accomplishing this as well. Looking to his left arm he picked a thread and increased it to rope size as well.

A sharp pain went through his arm. He had not used this arm nearly as much as his right one, and he could feel it. Still, pain was something he could understand. He allowed both arms to be filled with ropes of light, pushing and stretching the connections. Looking down at his legs, Harry was slightly started at how long they were. His new size would take time to adjust for. Still, If he was going to do this correctly, why not the legs as well? Finding one of the larger threads in each leg, he swelled them both to rope size at the same time.

His head smacked back into the mattress as he grit his teeth. It felt like he had cramps in both legs, in several places. Harry felt like his muscles were BURNING. He really should have built up to this, as he could feel muscles tearing and rebuilding rapidly in both legs. At least the pain was rapidly being replaced with warmth.

Grimacing through the stinging pain, he continued working the threads. When night really fell, he would move.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Vernon Dursley felt off all day. Something was different in the house. It felt like something was missing, something was changed. Like having an air conditioner switch off suddenly after you already got used to it. He felt like he was reaching for something he didn't want to find, and it felt so good that it was not there.

The floor seemed brighter, the walls cleaner. He didn't feel as pressured, or stressed.

It felt so nice he was waiting anxiously for the next shoe to drop.

Petunia was nearly singing. Normally no matter how often she swept, mopped, dusted, everything felt filthy. There always seemed to be some smell she couldn't find, some noise caused by something skittering on the floor, and the feeling of being watched, always watched.

Her world seemed to have more color. Smells seemed brighter. It was like someone had finally pulled back the curtains. Her face, normally pinched in a scowl of disgust at all the tiny imperfections, had relaxed almost completely for the first time in years. She might even have some time to make some food again! How long had she been overworked, trying to bring some cleanliness to this wretched house?

She almost skipped as she began moving things in the kitchen.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry could not do much but grit his teeth right now. His limbs were on fire, and his joints were becoming more sore by the moment. Pain mattered little though, he had something to prove to himself, to his parents. He would not let a momentary pain keep him weak.

His eyes were casting green shadows on the walls. Not able to move his neck, he began to examine his room more closely.

A frown crossed his face. It looked like at one point some red threads had been laid on the wood. The threads felt familiar, like a kiss from years ago. It reminded him of his mom. The issue was some sort of darkness, oozing down the tense red threads, actually thinning it further.

His face was a scowl now, and the green of his glare sharpened. All his exercises stopped, and he used thin threads to rapidly repair his joints and muscles as he moved closer to one of the clusters of black thread.

That evil bastard.

Somehow the demon baby had infected this red thread. How he had done so from his scar was beyond Harry, but clearly it had been done over years and years. In fact, he remembered from his mind hell how progressively more aggressive the Dursley family had become over the years. That cursed mind baby must have been working his way through these threads, trying to gain control of whatever this thread was trying to do.

This was NOT acceptable.

Focusing on his right arm, he built the largest rope he could handle right now. Reaching to the old wood and resting his palm against it, he willed the vibrant green rope through his hand and gently contacted the red thread.

Knowledge. He could feel the world fade to black as he could visualize the entirety of a structure of red wire. It made a strange pattern and wove through pipes, wood, carpet and stone... and over half was being corroded by the black threads. Harry scowled with eyes closed as he decided that anything the blackness wanted had to be a bad idea. It also seemed that the red thread was already tied into him, on the edge of his green thread. The connection was so old he had to focus to even recognize it.

Focusing on that wisp of green light, Harry forced it to open to rope thickness.

Red fire traveled down the red thread and ran to the back of the house. It seemed to pause somewhere under the soil in the back yard, then suddenly ALL the red threads bulged. As the new ropes swelled, the black thread gave tiny screams as it sizzled. The mental image seemed much stronger, and the edges seemed to almost double in distance, so far he couldn't even follow the whole thing. He probably should feel worried about what the red thread did, but the satisfaction of hurting that black magic was rolling through his system.

Reducing his connection into the red grid back to a small thread, Harry sighed and tried to get comfortable again. Time to go back to these annoying exercises. At least he could actually see results. Changing thread thickness was almost an automatic action now, and he could control many more at one time. Still, why stop at being only passable?

Gritting his teeth again, he opened two ropes of power in each limb. He couldn't do one cord yet, but doubling the ropes should help him get to that stage faster.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry suddenly focused again. Hours of controlling the ropes had made him reach some sort of meditative state a while ago, and he was not sure why he was now paying attention to the pain again. Trying to feel what had happened, he realized it was a feeling from the red thread.

Apparently Petunia had just gone into deep sleep, meaning he was the only one awake in the house. Somehow the red system was informing him of what was going on within itself. Heck, he could feel people in the street for blocks, even if he didn't know who they were. Some part of his mind must have wondered if it was safe to try another excursion outside, and the red net had given the information.

He blankly looked at the wall. It was a good thing probably, but it was too much. Too many things were changing, too many things to do. He placed the entire red network issue aside for now, and focused on what he could do at this moment. He was not sure how long he could stay here before Vernon drug him out again, but maybe he could extend it. His "uncle" had always been lazy, so if he made it inconvenient to "release" him from this hole, maybe he could get extra time. Moving quietly, he took his right and and thickened all the threads in his skin. Feeling the firmness, he again pulled the hinges out of the cupboard and placed them quietly aside. He reached one thread into the lock and twisted it, breaking it closed. With Harry controlling the only EASY way in and out of the cupboard, it became much safer. He crawled out and stretched to his new height.

Since he had not bothered to get dressed since the last excursion, he was ready to go... sort of. He was too tall, his arms were longer, heck he felt like he was off balance. He could barely stand, much less sneak.

A healed body had some apparent downsides. His objectives had just gotten a major change, and any plans had to wait until he could move again. Sighing, Harry reached back into the hell under the stairs and grabbed one of the shirts, pants and the torn sneakers he had been allowed to use.

He would have to go outside if he wanted to learn to move, it was far too dangerous to exercise here. As he clothed himself he thought curses at the over-sized clothing.

As he pulled on the jeans and shoes, he paused. His shirt was still too wide, but his new height actually made this dirty clothing almost fit. Maybe...

Harry chose threads in his skin and thickened them, pulling them just slightly out of his skin and into his shirt. Threads were absorbed like the muscles from last night, and holes in the cloth began to repair themselves. He grinned like a shark, enjoying the ability to actually fix a problem he faced instead of having to accept once again that he was helpless.

As the threads repaired the shirt, he rewove the extra threads into the cloth itself. It made the thickness increase, and he could feel the warmth building as it wove tighter. He thought about how he had pushed the glass out of his hip wound, and began focusing on the dirt in a section of his new shirt. The name of some band Dudley had liked at some point began vanishing.

He was kind of surprised. He had hoped to clean the shirt, but apparently his threads did not think that ink was part of the cloth. He grinned and added a pulsing green rope to the mix.

His shirt began to almost glow white as dozens of threads tore into the ink. As it finished he had a white t-shirt that was perfectly draped on him, thick and reaching down to his wrists. But the pure white was a problem. Focusing on the threads, he tried to embed some in the cloth.

As the green thread was released from his control, the places the light stayed glittered and faded into a deep blue. He was a bit surprised. True, he liked blue, but he had expected the color to match the glow. Maybe his desire had changed the results.

Deliberately focusing, he watched the shirt change to a deeper green as thousands of hair thin threads leap into the cloth and then faded away. He pinched the cloth between his fingers and could feel how soft and sturdy it was. Apparently doubling the thickness had given it some structural support.

His pants quickly resized as well, becoming a dark blue. Just before he attempted to work on his shoes, he paused. Reaching back into the hole under the stairs, he pulled out a blood soaked white shirt. He had worn it less because the blood made his skin itch, but maybe he could get some use out of it now. Holding it in his hands he focused a rope into the cloth and began pulling.

Blood vanished as the threads began falling apart, heaping into Harry's palm as the shirt dissolved. As the soft green glow faded, he held a pile of pure white threads.

He set aside half of the thread and forced the other half into a simple bag, watching green threads pull white ones into the same pattern used for his shirt. After a fairly thick and long bag was created, he pulled off his right sneaker and pulled the cloth bag over it. Focusing the threads in his skin again, Harry watched as the white bag became his very first sock.

He felt like he would have to buy a new face, he was smiling so much recently. Harry quickly repeated his actions for his left food and had two perfectly clean, perfectly formed cloth socks. He had even doubled the thickness and length, so they almost acted like stockings, warming his ankles and lower leg. Grabbing both shoes back on, he barely thought about it as they were stripped of color, rapidly began dissolving and reforming, and began fitting his feet.

Harry looked at the white shoes and began shifting them to black. He had leftover material from this one, since he didn't want to have platform shoes or something. He formed the leftover cloth into a ball of string and the rubber into a cube and hid both back under the stairs. As he admired his new shoes, he realized he had made a minor error.

There were no laces. In fact, they perfectly fit his foot... he couldn't take them off.

Oh well, it would be simple to just rebuild them or stretch them open with his threads when he wanted to take them off. He never liked the laces anyway, it always required complicated knots and stuffing the excess back into the shoe since they were way larger than he needed. He pulled out some food supplies and then closed the cupboard. He reached out a thread through the wood and lifted the hinges, forcing them back into place. Wouldn't want anyone to notice an escape if they woke up late at night.

He moved as quietly to the door as he could, stumbling a bit still due to how badly he was used to the old way of walking with a smaller gait, moving at a slower speed. Using a thread to keep the door hinges silent, he slipped out into the night and began walking.

~~~Core Threads~~~

God he was out of shape. Harry was barely walking fast and his legs were hurting, his chest was tight, and he could barely stand upright. He had gotten used to his new size and had tried to do some running.

Clearly he was not gifted in the field.

Falling to the grass of a nearby yard, he relaxed as his threads examined the most sore muscles. Now that he was so much larger and was wearing form fitting clothing, he was not sure anyone would recognize him. Not that many people even knew he lived at number 4 hell street.

After healing the muscles, he looked at them again. Each muscle had tears in them, and the new ones seemed to be stronger. Well, that was easy to fix. Looking around for a dark spot, he found a place between a fence and a car and lied down, resting his head on the grass. Focusing on his threads, he began rebuilding more and more muscles to act like his newly rebuilt ones.

He actually let out a gasp. He had not expected it to hurt this much. Apparently some muscles had almost never been used, like the ones in his face and near his ears and sides. As more and more muscles began becoming stronger and able to absorb more oxygen, Harry began to feel a deeper hunger than he had ever expected. He had actually eaten two bags of jerky already on this run, but now he was ravenous. He was glad he had grabbed such an amount on his way out of the house, he had almost skipped bringing food in his hurry to get out and get going.

He could almost feel each piece of meat being absorbed before it could make it down his throat. His threads NEEDED protein for this project, it was not simply "Make it work", this was "Make it work better". Harry could probably out eat someone in a competition right now, he felt like hunger was his new favorite color.

As his hunger faded and he looked at what was left of his food, he couldn't help but chuckle. Hopefully half an energy bar would be enough for the way back. He stood, and almost stumbled. He did not feel stronger, but everything else felt easier. Breathing took no effort, and he was breathing MUCH less now. Apparently more efficient muscles required less oxygen, and his enhanced lungs seemed to absorb more with each breath than before.

As he turned back toward his prison, he actually had a bounce in his step... Heck, running felt like a fine idea now. Not like there was any strain right now anyway.

As he left running down the street Harry felt more free than ever before.


	6. Wildlife

Vernon Dursley rested on an older mattress. He had the funds for a new one, but he and Petunia had grown fond of the shapes each of them had made in the old thing. But right now, he felt something unusual.

Instead of darkness and fear, he only felt rest. For the first night in months he had not felt one nightmare, no dream of screams or blood. Even without dreams, it felt so good he wanted to wake up just so he could fall asleep again.

Next to the large man, resting in the dark, Petunia was on a beach. She barely remembered this moment, back when she had friends and time, but now it felt so real. She could see deep ocean waters far into the distance, white sand under her. The rest of her family was doing something, but she had taken a break on the beach. The longer she stayed, the less she kept trying to watch over her shoulder, the less she felt the need to prepare to run. No strange sounds, no odd feelings... just waves.

A small tear formed in her eye as she slept.

Dudley's bedroom was far enough away from the cupboard that he was only used to strange smells or the odd scream, but even he felt more calm tonight.

Not surprising then that the soft opening of the front door and the quiet entrance of Harry did not even provoke a snore. He had checked the red network before entering, and used some threads to coat the hinges anyway. Harry had not created the red threads and was not sure how much he should trust them. He wiped his sweaty hands through his hair, only slightly winded from the second half of his run. He had thrown away the wrappers into a trash bin a few houses back, so he was not worried about extra trash being spotted. Just in case, Harry decided to replace the jerky and bars he had eaten on the trip.

The watch didn't seem as useful an idea as before, since he could now watch people move through the premises using the red network. He wished he understood it more, but it was horribly complicated. Red threads twisted in complex knots, braids of light wove through walls and into the floor creating diamond and square shapes, with no apparent pattern or reason. Still, what was here seemed to work, to reinforce each other and prevent a single weakness from destroying the entire pattern. Refocusing on the present, he headed into the kitchen.

A quick trip to the pantry resupplied him easily enough. Harry had been conservative stealing from the piles of food before, so it was unlikely to be missed. If he had to take more though, he would leave a wrapper and an extra package at Dudley's door. That would probably convince EVERYONE that he had eaten most of them, or at least give enough suspicion that the adults would ignore any evidence just in case their Dudley was involved.

As Harry was about to head back to the cupboard, he noticed recently washed dishes. His face went slack with a bit of shock. He had never seen anyone besides him even attempt to cook. Harry shook his head and reached some threads into the cupboard door, unhinging and letting himself inside the space.

Sealing himself into the darkness, he laid back and prepared to once again work on his mind. His body had greatly improved, although the pain cost had been high. Hopefully he could do something useful with his mind as well.

A quick rope to the brain and he was back in his second home.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry fell back into the soft grass, watching the clouds bumble along. Now that he had it all organized again, he could really enjoy the soft breeze filled with the scent of lily flowers.

He had choices to make, eventually. Harry's mind drifted, watching the clouds of his thoughts swirl. Every once in a while, a whole cable of green light would leap from his chest and pull down whichever cloud he was staring at. Random clouds, images that had no great low or high. Some leaves falling on a car, a rabbit hopping away through a fence, and other random events he enjoyed floating through the sky.

What to do next?

His eyes drifted to the lake. It still sparkled and sung to his senses, but it felt so simple. No trees existed here, no buildings, no rocks. The lake was huge now, fading away into the distance, but it was so basic.

Harry paused, then stood up and walked down into the white corridor. The wood walls passed until he opened a random section of the wall, showing a pulsing green hall. He had found that taking his happiest memories, the sweetest thoughts, and storing them together brought him peace. He had then wrapped the corridor with his light, infusing the very walls with his pure green so the pulse would make it all feel more alive, and he had felt the improvement of his control and ability when this emerald room surrounded his joy and pride.

Pausing down the hall, he looked on a glass pedestal and saw the glass snow-globe on top. Unlike the ones he buried in the hell under the stairs, each of THESE snow-globes was a perfect sphere, with the joyful cloud and its golden edge floating in the middle. The sphere was held up by golden wire on top of the glass pedestal, and this one was just what he wanted.

He hesitated to move it though. He really liked this memory, even if it had nothing to do with him or his new found family. Placing it somewhere unsafe worried him. Reaching out, a green rope lifted the globe.

A bright flash blinded Harry for a moment. Clearing his eyes he saw that there were now TWO globes! Quickly checking that each one was identical, he grinned and started humming as he took the copy out of his secure green hall. On the way back he paused on the white wood stairs, and looked toward the hell hole.

Stepping into the hell under the stairs, Harry quickly found the most recent memory of the beating that had started this chain of events. With a grim stare he pulled at the memory, a new snow-globe with twinges of black appearing in the grip of his rope.

Harry swept his way upstairs, and sat next to the lake. With a tiny smile he surrounded the glass sphere of happiness and freed it using the most delicate threads he controlled. Cradling the floating cloud before it could escape, he watched it again just for the feelings.

Inside was the first time he had ever seen a baby duck.

Gently wrapping the cloud entirely with his threads, he tried to shape it as softly as possible. When he felt a kick from the threads, his whole face cracked into a smile as he opened the cocoon.

The tiniest baby duck was now cradled by the threads, blinking blindly as it looked around the world. Each feather had the golden edge that the cloud had possessed, but its tiny eyes were the same bright green as his threads.

Thankfully no one was around to hear the giggly noises Harry Potter may or may not have made.

Becoming more serious, Harry focused on the bad memory. He wrapped it firmly in cords, crushing the glass and cloud even further. When finished he had teeny tiny vampire teeth. He reached down and gently pushed the teeth into the mouth of the duck, and touched both with the green thread.

To say the duck was surprised was an understatement. It was making tiny noises and running in a circle, although it seemed more shocked at the change and not in any apparent pain. As it calmed down, it turned to look up at the giant creature that had created it.

Harry smiled at the tiny thing and sat down cross-legged. He leaned forward, "Hey there little guy."

The duck almost fell over from the sound of a voice. Harry realized he had not talked in some time, and his voice sounded odd now that much of the dietary damage had been healed.

He chuckled "Sorry little one, I won't hurt you. In fact, I want to give you a job."

Tiny duck eyes blinked up at the large one. In the strongest voice possible, it bravely spoke.

"Quack."

Harry stared at the duck. Well, honestly, what had he expected? Gathering himself, he decided a yes/no approach would be less stressful. "All right, let's try and get this straight. Can you understand me?"

A fierce nod from the tiny warrior, "Quack."

He paused again. "Uh... good." He shook his head and decided continue. "I have given you one of the worst memories I have that doesn't actually involve Voldemort. If someone comes in here and tries to cause problems, I want you to bite them. Ok?"

The tiny duck nodded again, but brought up a good point. "Quack?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, it doesn't seem likely, but unlikely stuff seems attracted to me. I am actually considering duplicating you like I did the memories downstairs. Does that sound ok to you?"

The feathered defender seemed to consider this. Actually, Harry was starting to get a little disturbed at how intelligent this random memory appeared to be at this point. The duck seemed to have come to a decision though. "Quack. Quack? Quack?"

Harry was a bit surprised. "Honestly, I don't know how many. No idea on the name either, what do you think?"

The duck waddled back and forth like a drill instructor. It eventually turned back to the large being. "Quack. Quack."

Harry shrugged. "Well, thirty sounds fine to me. Not sure if I love the idea of 'Duck Avengers', but whatever floats your duck."

The duck tilted its head. "Quack?"

He thought. "Well, I guess you should have a name or something, if you are going to lead the Duck Avengers. What are you avenging anyway? You should eat bread and stuff. I just wanted something in the pond honestly, the whole vampire teeth was a last minute thing."

The duck shrugged its shoulders... did ducks HAVE shoulders? "Quack."

Harry sighed. "Fine, you will be Jim. Just don't bite everyone, ok? I think that those teeth will force someone to experience the entire memory with each bite."

Jim nodded and waited. Harry pushed rope after rope forward, pulling Jim and creating dozens of duplicate feathery warriors of the pond. After reaching 30, Jim of the Duck Avengers began to organize his minions.

Harry raised his hand, and several ducks turned. "Hey, am I needed for anything else? Do you need a place to sleep or food or whatever?"

Jim paused and looked back at Harry. "Quack?"

Harry considered the ethical issues. "If I make snails, will they be as intelligent as you? I am not sure I could handle creating a sentient species to be fed upon."

Jim shrugged and waved a wing. "Quack. Quack."

He sighed. "Fine, I guess as long as I don't use a memory it should not be an issue. As far as I know, none of the bottles I made are alive." He paused, considering that... no, that line of thought could lead to madness. Better stay with snail creation for the Duck Avengers.

Harry frowned. Maybe he should double check the damage here in his mind more closely. Something about this felt very silly. Still, this doesn't necessarily mean anything bad. He had never really had a chance to be silly when younger, so why not?

Waving his hand, he pulled some of the liquid warmth from the lake with his ropes and molded a tiny golden snail. Unlike his ropes, this shouldn't blend with the lake if they wandered into it, and it probably would improve the taste. Ugh, snail taste. Some quick duplication and there were now hundreds of tiny golden snails in and around the lake. Oops, now there were a few less. Those ducks could move pretty quick.

Jim seemed quite impressed.

Harry stretched and created a bench. It felt obligatory now that the lake actually had ducks to watch. True, he was pretty sure they shouldn't be doing marching drills, but eventually they had to go off shift, right?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was getting a bit worried. At this point he had made a tiny Duck Obstacle Course, a Duck Waddling Range, and carved a section of the lake into a Duck Swimming Range. Jim was being a bit too hard core for Harry's liking, but after a long argument he had agreed to step down training.

Harry was not sure why "Waddle up and bite people" needed such complicated methods of practice, but he was only a human. Jim seemed to have a deeper grasp of the entire situation, so that was good enough for him.

Vampire teeth seemed a less than perfect idea in retrospect. But at least Harry was sure they worked now that Jim had carefully explained why Harry should not laugh when Jim trips during training. The fang marks had healed up quickly too, which was a plus.

It seemed really unfair for something that cute to hurt that much. Harry had real issues staying mad with Jim, and he felt that Jim knew it.

Still the world seemed much more alive now. Maybe more creatures would be a good idea... later. He didn't want to be kicked out of his own head after all. As it was, Jim had requested duck ramps down the right side of most of the stairs in the various halls and corridors.

What Harry was working on now however was something more useful in an immediate sense. He was tired of having no idea what was happening in the real world while he was here.

Harry looked up into the sky. He didn't have a moon or sun yet. Well, why not? Without looking, he reached back with a rope into his base and all the way into the green room. Duplicating the first memory of a full moon he had ever seen, he pulled the copy back into his hands. Gently he cracked the glass sphere with the thinnest threads, catching the floaty cloud in a warm embrace of green. Finally he had a solid white moon, one with no craters or marks, which he lifted with a cable into the sky.

Thrusting against the ground, three ropes pushed him upwards with the moon. There should be two parts to this. First he reached into himself, and pushed light into the world around his physical form. He formed a thin thread and fixed it out the back of his neck, and forced it to only sense the pull of the Sun. Syncing this new sense with the newly crafted moon, Harry leaned back allowing the green ropes trailing below him to hold him steady.

After a soft shimmer, the moon was suddenly black. Checking the connection, he gently moved the threads holding the sense to the shadow. Each minor adjustment made the light moved back, showing only a mostly dark moon. It must be just before midnight right now.

Harry grinned and retreated to the ground. He threw a thick cord from his right hand into the tiny moon, and it swelled till it filled the whole night sky. He tried not to blush, but he could hear Jim in the background quacking at his mistake. Not like Harry had any rules or something on how to do this.

Reducing the power, he managed to get the moon down to only double the size he felt it should be. Harry sighed, it was not like he hated seeing the moon, he just thought he had better control than this. Moving and changing things must require less control than this detailed stuff.

Still, he had a way of determining real world time. As it was based on a thread near his neck, it should be accurate no matter where he lived.

Maybe he should setup some sort of monitoring post... "Hey Jim!"

The duck had finished quacking up over the moon job and waddled over.

Harry sat down, resting his sore arms. "What do you think about a monitoring system? Something that would let us know if something is happening to the red network, or maybe warn us if something happens while I am in here doing stuff?"

Jim seemed interested, and started walking over to where the tiny structures had been constructed. Pointing to a spot near the center, he nodded at Harry. "Quack. Quack?"

Harry shrugged. "There is fine, any preference for the shape? Seems silly to just make a square house or something."

Jim winged over some team leaders and hey quacked over it. Turning back to Harry, he seemed pretty confident. "Quack."

He could only blink. "Uh. Sure." A wave and some green rope later and there was a fairly large and golden snail. Apparently the lake had REALLY made the snails a delicacy. With no real thought, Harry shrunk to duck height and walked in with Jim and team lead alpha and beta. It seemed nice enough, and he moved to one of the rooms near the back of the spiral shell.

Reaching inside himself, he searched for the green thread tied to the red network rope. Finding it, he pulled the connection into this room and encased it in green cords. As the light faded a red wire mesh filled this side room, with colored meshes in different rooms of the red network's model of the house. He of course was green, in the hell hole. Dudley and Vernon were both dim gray, and Petunia seemed to be a very light blue.

Harry blinked. It looked like Petunia had some sort of light too, although it was much weaker. Well, his mother, her sister, did have strong light. He supposed it was not too surprising that she had something.

He noticed the model became much less focused on the edges, and cars that passed appeared with blurs of gray as they passed by. Oddly there was another person with Petunia's light blue threads. Based on this map, it looked like Mrs Figg had a gift. Some of the tinnier cats seemed to also have dull brown threads. Odd.

Harry shrugged to himself and waved Jim forward, watching him assign team beta shift-work monitoring the red network. Who knew, it could be helpful one day. He moved to the next room and tried to think of a good way to do this.

He had once seen a tv show before Dudley had found out and told on him. The problem was that the display was so small, and the case was so large. Still, he was in a gold snail being followed by ducks, so why follow logic now? He created a sheet with his finest threads, so thin they were near invisibility. As they crisscrossed into a golden window, he felt inside for the connection of his eyes. After he had flooded them with light they worked amazingly well, able to see in near dark or overwhelming brightness, able to see threads of light with eyes open or closed. Reaching that connection, he tried to map how it felt and how it connected to the threads inside. Touching it with a cord, he was able to duplicate the output and pull it like a thick green cord out of his right hand.

He shoved the cord into the screen from behind, and watched as the whole thing turned solid black.

Well crud. He reached behind it and felt the connection. It looked like it had only a partial connection, the visual at the moment. Increasing the number of threads touching them, he began bridging the gap. Looking at the front he saw the screen was now all white.

Harry sighed. Clearly it was now showing TOO MUCH data. In frustration he thumped the damn thing.

It flickered into perfect clarity, showing the red lines through his eyelids so the room around was visible almost in inverted colors. He sheepishly looked around, but thankfully Jim and the team leads had been checking the red network room. Trying to shake the embarrassment of losing his temper, he reached into himself and pushed a few extremely thin wisps of light from his body to make random sweeps of the room. At this tiny size they could move automatically without causing a drain to him, and every pass should leave an echo line image here.

Not quite sonar, but not bad. Even with closed eyes the room was pretty well mapped, especially since time probably moved faster here than in the real world. Harry turned to the door, "Hey Jim, I think we got the Visual Room set up in here. Should we get another team set with shift-work for it?"

A distant 'Quack.' came through the door and team lead for alpha waddled in, saluted with a wing, and began examining the setup. Harry pointed out the parts to NOT touch, then headed out of the snail and stretched back to normal size. He was pretty sure he had overheard that they were going to call this "Snail Quarters", and he was ALSO pretty sure that SQ would be interesting for the teams. Nothing like watching a human stumble through life to entertain the troops.

Somehow Harry felt this had all become complicated. He laid down on the soft grass and resolved to do nothing useful for the rest of the day. Or at least for however long a day felt here. The moon showed only a few minutes had passed, so time seemed to move much faster in his head than in the world.

Harry drifted off to sleep watching the clouds pass. He felt he had made some real progress today, although he was a bit concerned about inter-duck relations at this point. Still, they were all polite to each other, and Jim kept them in line.

He fell asleep and drifted back into the green mist. A couple of nearby rookies were distracted by the sight, but thankfully their team leaders led with an iron wing and got them back on task. There was work to be done.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry awoke early the next morning. He realized that he had forgotten to change out of his clothing, which were sticky with sweat. He wondered if it was safe to try and clean it with thread.

"Quack."

He froze. That was probably a bad sign right? He cautiously looked around the dim cupboard.

Thank god, no ducks.

"QUACK."

Harry gulped. "NO Jim, sorry, that was uh... I meant no OTHER ducks. You know, not being infiltrated." So was the quack a thought?

"Quack."

Oh. Well, Jim should talk quieter, it sounded like he was in the room and it could have given Harry a heart attack.

'Quack...'

Harry nodded, 'No problem, this is just new is all. Tell you what, just ignore any thought louder or softer than these, alright?'

'Quack. Quack.'

Harry grinned a little. 'Thanks for checking, I am glad it is clear for thread work. I guess since time is faster in there you have lots of time to check it all when I need answers. Let me know if anything happens that I should be aware of, ok Jim?'

'Quack.'

Harry felt relieved. He liked ducks a lot, but if they started showing up EVERYWHERE then he was pretty sure that he had broken his mind all together. He focused threads through his body and vanished the sweat, salt, and other such things from his skin and clothing. He also changed his shirt to a dark blue. Today felt like a blue day.

He opened some jerky and savored each bite. The salt content was almost more important than the protein at this point, especially since he had enough water to help smooth over the edges.

He looked down. His body was much stronger, his mind felt amazing, and his ropes were able to actually reach outside his body now. Not as far as the threads, but almost a third of a meter. Hopefully he would be able to increase that range, and have more than one rope out at a time. Still, this was probably overkill to handle someone like the Loud... no, like Vernon.

One more day. He would practice strengthening all his skin threads to protect himself, he would stretch his rope out to at least a meter, and he would ensure that his mind's hell under the stairs was properly sorted and locked down.

Harry Potter had a lot of questions he wanted... no, he NEEDED answered. And tomorrow he would get those answers.


	7. Home under the Stairs

Vernon woke late. He was very confused.

Time was not an issue right now, today was a Saturday and he had no reason to wake up early. Well, no good reason. But there had been no nightmares. That feeling, the heavily weight that normally oiled down his spine, it seemed gone. To feel at ease in the morning was almost wrong. There had even been days when he felt something had been in the corner, watching him and waiting for his eyes to open to try and...

But not today.

His permanent scowl started to retreat. Maybe today would be different? Everything had started getting better since he had...

A cold chill ran down his spine. He knew he had experienced a blackout two days ago. He didn't remember what exactly he did, but he clearly remembered the things arm bending wrong when he shoved it under the stairs. Vernon began to sweat as he tried to think back to when everything had suddenly became better... it hadn't been long after he had locked the "freak" down there.

He started to slide into a slight panic. Petunia would find out. What he had done. Would she believe him? Vernon knew she had experienced a few blackouts as well. Some dark place in his mind whispered, 'YOU were the one who locked him away, not the shadows.'

If... if there was a body... well, he had to do something, right? The smell would tell his crime after a while anyway. Had he even heard noise from the stairs in the last two days? No begging to be free, no whimpering, none of the tricks that daemon spawn used to unleash itself upon his family again.

He knew Petunia would be cleaning the second floor today, she always alternated between the two floors. That would give him over eight hours to check, just quickly verify the thing was still there.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Petunia Dursley was feeling amazing. Without the strange smells and dirty shadows, each room took only minutes to clean! Normally she would have to work four hours or more, with lots of re-working, just to try and keep the horror down. She saw some toys that had fallen outside Dudleykins room and picked them up, opening his door.

She had to blink. It had been over a year since she had been here, and this room was a DISASTER. How could an eight year old make a mess this huge? Piles of things on the ground, scattered everywhere. Her lips thinned. Dudley was a growing boy, but this was not acceptable. She always kept the house as clean as she could, and this room was like a slap in the face. She placed the toys on one of the side piles and moved to wake the large boy.

It was more than time to teach her child the benefit of a clean house.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Dudley was having a terrible day. Mom hadn't let him go back to sleep, even when he told her to go away! Her eyes looked different too. Normally they were slightly glazed, like she was too tired to focus. Now he could actually feel disappointment from her as she glared at his stuff. When she had found his jar of money, her eyebrows had practically left her face! Who cared where he got it from, no one had asked before.

He had been stuck here since then. Every half hour or so she would sweep in and verify that he kept moving things around.

Dudley shuddered. The last time she had actually started throwing away stuff! He didn't really remember getting it all, and she was focusing on the things that had somehow broken, but it was HIS THINGS! And she didn't even stop when he said NO!

His perfect world seemed to be crumbling. Well, cleaning anyway.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Vernon was confused. It almost seemed like a new natural state for him. When Petunia had gone upstairs, he had tried to open the blasted cupboard, but the lock would not turn. Hesitantly, he had knocked on the door, 'Boy, you alive in there?'

A smooth voice had responded 'Yes sir.' It sounded LIKE the kid, but so much different. No dark twinges, no hidden threats, no sick suggestions buried in innocence. His guff 'Well, thats good then. Need to come out?' had almost been reflexive.

Thankfully, but even more odd, was the response 'No thank you.'

So now he was sitting in the living room.

He was also confused by his wife. She had come down the stairs over five times now with trash bags. Had it really gotten that bad up there?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Petunia placed another huge bag of trash out near the bins. She felt more tired from all this weight lifting than she had in weeks, but it also felt satisfying. SO MUCH JUNK in that room!

She had taken all the money from Dudleykins, it was beyond her why he had such a large amount anyway. What was an eight year old going to do with over a £1200 anyway? How long had they kept giving him money when he asked? WHAT could he even spend it on?

She had a mischievous smirk as she walked into the living room and handed the wad of paper bills to her man. "Happy Christmas dear!"

Vernon's gob-smacked expression made her day. The conversation after was less fun, but she felt it had been worth it.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry has been having an odd morning. He could feel the house moving like an anthill had been kicked. He KNEW it was going off the rails when Vernon, the LOUD MAN, whispered about his well being! What the bloody hell was going on in this house?

When he felt Petunia throwing away the garbage from Dudley's room, he was too surprised to even regret the potential losses. Heck, all these changes were distracting him from his training methods.

He could feel all of their emotions to a certain extent when they moved near the stairs. They felt cleaner, crisper. Harry realized that the blackness would have been thickest near where he rested, and so both the adults had been SLEEPING directly over the daemon baby's cell.

Well, he could sympathize with them to a certain extent. His OWN world felt cleaner and richer without that bastard in his face.

He focused back on his limbs. He now had three ropes in each limb, and could almost make a cord... However, that didn't feel fast enough. In his mind-scape he had managed to create cables of cords, at least internally. A few ropes felt like nothing compared to that.

He watched his right arm. It always felt easiest, since it had been the first to experience the green threads under his direct control. Thickening three ropes, he began twisting them into a single cord.

Gritting his teeth, Harry was beginning to wish that each new idea he had would stop requiring his body being altered.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Vernon was just lost now. His son had apparently collected so much cash he didn't even bother putting all in one place. His wife had not only cleaned the top floor, but had taken out MANY bags of broken and old things that Dudley had apparently kept for no real reason. She had even cooked a pretty good pork-chop, and he couldn't remember the last time she had done that.

He looked upstairs, where he could still hear his son grumbling as he was cleaning away. CLEANING!

It all felt like good changes, but good rarely happened in this house. His guilt had gone down pretty heavily after hearing the thing under the stairs, but it had not gone away... somehow the new voice made him feel guilty just by being polite! He was regretting the confrontational tone he had taken even now, which had never bothered him in the past.

This was turning into one of the best Saturdays he could remember, and it was making him nervous.

Maybe he didn't have to stay home as often? If the feeling stayed away, maybe he could feel safer about leaving his wife and child near it without him. He had given up many of his hobbies, cut ties with several friends, and had given up much just because he was concerned about what would happen to his family if he left that house alone.

Vernon had deep thoughts for the rest of the day, deep to the point where he missed several dim flashes of light from the cupboard under the stairs.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Dudley was grumbling as he continued to sort and change the shapes of the piles. Looking around to make sure he was alone, he smiled a little. He would not admit it to anyone else, but having more room here actually was kind of nice. He had also found some toys he had missed but couldn't find in the piles.

He was annoyed that mom had taken his money, but it was not a huge loss. He had never really bothered to count or spend it, since everything he wanted he got anyway. Plus he had found a small box of fake coins from some birthday when he was younger. Now he could pretend to be a pirate!

He kept looking for something sword-like or maybe a chest or something.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was kind of shocked. Frankly, he had hopped twisting ropes would increase the growth rate of his thread network.

Instead his arm had caught on fire.

He absently watched the flames, unable to really react at the moment. The flames were green, and they did not feel like they hurt. Well, the inside felt strained, like over-tensing his muscles during his run, but the fire itself was not charing his skin.

He stopped twisting the ropes, and the green flames collapsed into the palm of his right hand. As long as a thread or more of light touched it, the fire seemed happy to stay, dancing in his palm. The green light filled the dark room, and Harry felt a bit off about the whole situation.

Closing his hand, he decided to worry about the whole issue later. Rubbing ropes together created fire? Well, that was nice but not what he was aiming for. Harry guessed it was like rubbing sticks or something. Maybe he could make a fire or light if he needed. Whatever, he had goals for today that did not involve THIS whole new situation.

Focusing on both arms, he thickened four ropes and wove them together. Twisting was not a great idea when living in a small WOODEN prison. As the ropes became woven, Harry felt his arms strengthen. Focusing on his skin, he saw the threads there starting to duplicate the pattern of the thick ropes within. The new pattern seemed to harden and empower his flesh.

THIS was useful. Burning someone was a pretty big decision, but making himself stronger? That didn't give him any moral issues. He could probably take a whole pan in the arm now without injury, so mere fists should do nothing to Harry now.

He tried to bend his left arm. With the braid pattern, his joints were locked into place... so he would have to quickly braid and separate his ropes if he wanted to use this in a fight. Harry had four ropes in his other limbs join his arm as they all began rapidly weaving into a braid and separating. He figured repetition would help him quickly swap between the two states.

He mentally checked with Jim. Apparently it was still early in the day according to the moon clock, so he had lots of time to practice his new armor ropes.

With a quiet sigh, he went back to practice.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was seriously tired of staring at the rough wood roof of his hell. How long had he been staring at it, either unable to move from pain or trying to reduce strain on his limbs while exercising?

Taking a break, he reached up and touched the ceiling with a rope. The green light began to spread into the wood, breaking into threads and wisps as rough edges were dissolved, holes filled, and cracks repaired. As the faded and chipped paint vanished, Harry could see a strong wood color underneath. It was nice, now that the aging white paint had been removed and the sharp nail tips had been worn away. He reached his right hand up and gently stroked the roof, feeling the smooth glass like structure.

As the smooth surface emerged from the roof of his cell, Harry turned and began gathering all the scraps and abandoned clothing he had been "given" over the years, making a large pile. After tossing the ball of string left over from his shoes into the heap, he threw another rope at the mass.

The entire collection began fading into white cloth as color was absorbed, and a small ball of plastic and metal rolled down the left side as all the zippers, buttons, and ringlets were broken down. Now that he had some raw materials, he forced them into the rough wood flooring, a third rope of light shaping the floor into a level and smooth surface.

Harry had never really thought about what he WANTED his room to be like, he had always just accepted things. Now however, he had options. He wove the white thread mass into the now smoothed flooring, creating tiny threads into a new carpet covering. Where his green rope pulsed into the floor, white fur seemed to spread in circles toward the edges of his room.

He had been forced into this hell, but now he could force this hell into a home.

'Quack'.

Oh, the roof was done. Harry thanked Ted for paying attention, and watched as the close ceiling began shifting to a bright blue sky color. As it changed, he felt his green light pulsing with some sort of need. He frowned as he tried to understand what exactly he was feeling.

His shoulder suddenly burned a bit as a thick rope flung from his body and smacked the ceiling. Distracted, Harry almost bit his lip as he tightly gripped his right shoulder, trying to understand what exactly the rope was trying to do.

As the burn faded, he looked at the roof. It was now over 4 meters away. In fact, the whole room seemed to be larger.

Harry frantically checked with Jim. If he had damaged the house, he would be getting his confrontation right NOW, ready or not. No one would just ignore a massive ROOM appearing, probably blocking the stairs and pushing the kitchen. Who knew how much damage he may have just caused.

Several soothing quacks later and he tried to calm his heart down. Apparently the red network had been modified as well, as it showed the normal outline of his hell hole AND the expanded one at the same time. Harry wished he could understand the new green pattern that now filled the walls and floors, but it was nearly as complex as the red network. In fact, the two networks seemed to be joined in a few places.

Well, if there was no real damage or change outside, maybe he should just accept the new space. With an almost absent hand wave he pressed a thread through both feet, changing the new carpet into a grassy green color. With the blue walls and ceiling, the whole area felt much closer to his mental home.

Harry turned to his mattress. He had never really liked it BEFORE it had become so aged and damaged. Now that the room was so nice, he didn't really want to sleep on that... thing.

Pressing both hands firmly on the ancient springs, he pulled the other metal ball from the clothing to him using a thread and began disassembling his mattress. As the blood and stains were dissolved, and the various dies and such were absorbed by his light, he decided to place his new bed in the far left corner, furthest from the locked door. Pulling the mass of metal springs, cloth coverings, and foam pieces into the corner, he contemplated what to do.

Carefully pulling the metal forward, he pushed them into the carpet covered wood floor. Seeing that the carpet would not be visible under his new bed anyway, he pulled those green threads out of the floor and added them to the now fairly substantial pile.

After some thought, he absorbed enough of each embedded spring to cut its length in half. Using the new metal, he doubled the number of springs within the bed shaped hole in the carpet. Satisfied, he then wove the cloth into a thick pad on top of the springs, connecting them into a solid mass. He made the surface double what it used to be, to prevent springs from tearing through this time and gouging his skin.

As the pure white bed took shape, he pondered on what to do. He didn't really have the materials to improve this much more, almost all the thread and metal was gone. True he had made the mattress larger to fit his new body, but he had hoped he had enough overly large clothing to make up for the new dimensions.

Harry giggled a bit to himself. Listen to him, complaining about not being able to make his bed softer. Until recently, he barely noticed if he was on that ratty old mattress or on the cold splinter filled floor... now he was in a finely crafted wooden room with bright blue walls and roof, and a grass green carpet. His new bed was loads better than what it had used to be, and here he was nit-picking the situation.

Honestly, he should be overly grateful just being able to stand up straight in here. Harry walked back into the center of his new room, and restarted his exercises. He would not be laying down during the confrontation, so he would have to learn how to lock his limbs with the braid without losing his balance.

Harry's limbs twitched as his braids wove together and apart. Even with his face wincing every now and then, his smile at his new home kept breaking through. He would easily meet his goals by tonight, and hopefully find out more about his real past and family in only a half day.


	8. Confrontation

Harry woke up, stretching on his new bed and looking up at the blue wood roof. Today he would get some answers.

He frowned in concentration. His new form, heck, just his new clothing made him look totally different than he had even a few days ago. As humorous the thought was of jumping out of the cupboard and watching the family have a heart attack, he actually needed to have a conversation.

If they all fainted, or ran screaming, or whatever, talking would be hard.

Could he leave a note? No, he didn't really know how to read or write yet. Pictures would probably only confuse them. Maybe just sit in the living room?

Harry sighed. Even just waiting for Vernon to open the stair door seemed like a bad idea now, since the new look would probably freak him out.

He sat up on his bed and leaned against the blue wall, crossing his legs and tapping his knee. What if he pretended to be someone new?

Well, for one thing they would be shocked that he had broken into the home.

He giggled a bit. Maybe he should just ring the doorbell.

... Heck, why not?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Petunia was having another great morning. After a successful day of cleaning, she had enough time to cook all three meals for her family and even tuck Dudleykins into bed. It had been months since she had enough energy for that.

She hummed as she carefully added another pancake to the pile she was making. She should probably get some more fruit, now that she had time to cook and didn't have to worry about shelf life as much. The unhealthy stuff lasted longer, so she didn't have to waste money as often.

She called her hubbie and son downstairs while setting up the plates. She frowned a little though. Why had she placed four plates? Had she thought Aunt Marge was dropping by? Petunia put the last plate away again. This had happened several times yesterday as well.

Vernon walked down to the amazing smell of his darling's famous pancakes. It had been so long since she had made these, and his mouth was watering before he even entered the room.

He gave her a quick kiss as he sat down, her smile lighting the room. It almost seemed out of place, the whole world seemed happier than they were used to.

Dudley on the other hand just entered, sat at his chair, and began making a bit of a mess.

Petunia frowned a little. "Don't slouch dear. And keep both elbows off the table."

His face was a bit shocked, even full of pancakes. "Baur far afu?"

Petunia wiped his chin, "Swallow first, dear."

Dudley just grumbled and went back to eating. Why were they bothering him now, he never had to mess with how he ate before. Still, these pancakes were amazing.

As they finished their meal, they heard the doorbell go off. Vernon sighed, "Petunia, could you get that? If it is a solicitor or something tell them we are quite good as we are, thank you VERY much." He pulled the paper closer and began looking through it. "Honestly, on a Sunday no less."

Petunia moved her plate to the sink and headed to the door. It seemed a tad early for salespeople, maybe it was one of the neighborhood watch girls. She always enjoyed gossiping about random things with them, but she had never really had time before with all the cleaning she had to do.

She opened the door, and just stared.

Standing almost as tall as her shoulder was a young man. Extremely young. He had a deep red shirt, black pants and shoes, and almost hauntingly familiar green eyes. He also was clearly into exercise. She smiled, "Um... hello there. Are you here to visit Dudely?"

Those deep green eyes seemed to sparkle with laughter for a second. "No mam, I am actually here to meet with a Mr. Vernon Dursley. Is this the correct home?"

Petunia suddenly realized that she was standing with an open mouth, small amounts of flour on her apron, and felt more than a little embarrassed to be caught in such a state. Opening the door more widely, she smiled. "Why don't you take a seat in the living room, Vernon is just finishing his breakfast."

She closed the door behind him and moved to the kitchen, quickly removing the apron after wiping her hands clean. Entering the kitchen she hesitated a moment. "Darling, there was a visitor for you."

Unlike she expected, he didn't start turning red with anger that someone had entered his domain. "Oh? Who was it?"

She felt relieved. Normally anyone or anything entering the house would cause an awful row, and her relief that he didn't blame her for letting some person stroll in made her smile a bit. "It was a young man. Very polite. I don't think he is one of the neighbors sons, so I thought he may be one the children of your coworkers."

Vernon grunted as he thought through the people he knew. "Those fellows? Maybe, some of the guys try and get the kids to do more now. 'Training the new crew', they call it." Standing, he placed his dish into the sink and moved toward the living room.

It was a strapping tall lad, currently sitting on one of the guest chairs. He seemed to radiate a type of calm, as if he had lived in that chair his whole life and just now bothered to realize it. Vernon walked over and held out his hand, "Good to meet you lad, name's Vernon. What can I do for you?"

The boy looked up and he almost had a heart attack. His eyes were almost exactly like that THING under the... no, they were not. Looking deeper in the green depths, he could feel a calmness, as if each eye was an old well filled with moss. Still, he found that he was now staring at the child.

Shaking himself a bit, he straightened his arm. "Sorry about that, you just reminded me of someone."

The boy stood, gripping his hand firmly. "No problem Mr. Dursley, I have been told that my appearance is a bit shocking. I actually need to speak to both you and the Mrs., actually."

Vernon moved over and sat in his throne. "Petunia? What about?"

Young eyes seemed to dim a bit as the young man resumed his seat. "It concerns her family."

Petunia had been listening in from the hall, and walked in at this. Her eyes searched the boys face, her own in a frown. "My family young man, has passed away."

His young head nodded. "Most of it has, yes. This may seem a bit off topic, but may I ask a personal question of you both?"

Strongly hesitant, Petunia turned and looked Vernon in the eyes. after a moment, Vernon nodded and turned to the young man. "Normally I am quite a private person, young man. You can ask what you wish as long as you do it respectfully, but don't expect we will just answer anything."

The boy seemed surprised at the response, but smiled a bit. "That is more than I expected, and I thank you both for the opportunity." Turning more serious, his eyes seemed to flash for a moment. "Now for the vital question. Did either of you notice anything unusual a couple of days ago?"

They were both shocked. Vernon was not going to talk about ANYTHING involving the "freak", and his mind was starting to run out of ideas of what to do. Standing swiftly, he motioned toward the door. "Thank you for your time young man, but I think you should go now."

The boy seemed to tense, but his posture didn't change. If anything, his skin seemed to turn slightly gray. "A couple of days ago, did the world seem cleaner?"

Petunia gasped, but quickly covered her mouth and tried to look calm. Vernon had enough and decided someone needed to visit the doormat right now. Leaning forward, he gripped the lads arm above the elbow and stood up.

Or tried to. He almost wrenched his arm trying to budge the child!

Said boy looked into his eyes. "Only a couple of nights ago, I killed a daemon in your house."

Vernon's eyes widened and turned back to the cupboard almost without thought. He thoughtlessly murmured, "The boy is dead?"

Petunia's eyes shot wide. Suddenly memories seemed to be moving quickly, memories that used to have a black veil pushing them back. A young girl... no, her SISTER. Some beach. A park. Letters. Boy? What b... THE CHILD. A basket, on the... LILY WAS DEAD!?

Petunia fell onto the near couch, eyes flowing with tears. Vernon heard her, and seeing her state shoved the rest of the world away and quickly hugged her close as she cried. Not knowing what was wrong, he whispered quiet words. "Everything is ok, you are ok, nothing is wrong."

The young man seemed lost at what to do. He ran a hand through his black hair. "I... look, I didn't mean to make her cry, I thought you two would be glad to know the creature was dead. You always seemed happy to attack it and stuff."

Petunia seemed to pull herself together a bit. "I... I had a sister, and I couldn't remember her. There was another child here, but he kept being hidden from me. Little Lily is... she... I never got to say goodbye!"

As she broke back into tears, Vernon turned to the young man and pleaded with him. "Look, I think you have done enough for today. Please don't tell anyone about whatever you know, just go home."

The boy stared for a moment and gave a dry chuckle. "Sorry Uncle Vernon, but this IS my home."

The silence seemed deafening. Petunia shakily stood, pulling herself from the slackened grip of her husband. She turned to the lad, and looked deeply into his eyes.

He shifted a bit, but tried not to look away. Eventually she touched his arm, as if to see if he was solid. "Are... was Lily your mother?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, I am Harry Potter." Before he could move Petunia wrapped him into a hug, talking almost continuously, "I am so sorry Harry, the darkness, I kept forgetting you. Every time I tried to help you I would begin forgetting. Every night I had dreams, terrible dreams, and... When we first got you, I thought everything would be ok, but there was something WRONG inside you."

He had tensed at her touch, but after a few minutes had awkwardly hugged her back. Looking at Vernon, stunned and half sitting on the couch, Harry took a deep breath. "As messed up as it sounds, you were right. Both of you. There was something truly dark and evil inside of me."

Vernon actually seemed slightly relieved. While he could not connect the twisted evil thing under the stairs with this tall lad, he had always wondered if that monster was ACTUALLY bad... or if he had just enjoyed causing pain and secretly used it as an outlet. Having someone actually TELL him he was right, that it wasn't just in his head seemed to lift a weight on his soul.

Harry pushed Petunia back towards Vernon and resettled himself. "Tell me, what were you told about the death of my mother and father?"

Vernon shook his head. "Nothing really. We got a letter on the basket we found you in saying Lily had passed and that you needed a home." His head felt a bit fuzzy but he tried to push through to the old memories. "I think Petunia was the one who decided we should take you in."

Harry nodded. "Well, during their murder the bastard who killed them left something inside of me." He pointed at his forehead. "That scar I had contained something dark, a daemon like thing. Killing it is what helped me free this house from its influence."

Vernon froze slightly. "Boy... I mean, Harry... Do red eyes mean anything to you?"

Harry scowled, his face so fierce that both Petunia and Vernon jerked back a bit. "Yes, that bastard Voldemort and the evil thing he left in me both had red eyes. Creepy ones too."

Vernon shook a little. "Whenever I had a blackout, I would see red eyes." Petunia quickly hugged her shacking husband as he talked. "I also heard laughter. The blackouts got longer and longer, and I kept hurting that thi... uh. I guess you."

Harry seemed startled. "I... well, it had been a theory I was working on honestly. I saw the blackness from the creature infesting the house, and I assumed it was encouraging evil actions." He leaned forward. "I had no clue it was actually POSSESSING other people. That is probably why it was so weak when I found it in my head, since it had used up most of its energy forcing you to break my arm."

Petunia gasped and glared at Vernon. Before she could say anything, Harry spoke up. "Don't blame him, that creature in me was stronger than almost everyone. Heck, I didn't even know it was there until I had an accident trying to heal myself. From what I gathered, Voldemort had been doing evil things for over 40 years."

Vernon still looked off, and felt dirty. Some scar daemon had been in his body. Looking at the boy, he felt so many questions. "Harry, how do you know so much about him? You were only a baby when you met, right?"

Harry shrugged. "Killing the thing released a lot of memories of his old life. That is how I found out my name, how I saw the death of my parents. I honestly can't stand his other memories, he had done such terrible things."

Petunia seemed hesitant. "Harry... whenever I could remember her, I wanted to know how Lily died. Could you tell me?"

Harry thought for a second. "I... uh. I might be able to show you. But you have to promise not to freak out, ok?" He caught their odd looks and sighed. "The night I healed my arm, I had found out I had these green threads. I use them for many things now, even attacked the daemon baby thing. But they are not NORMAL, and I know how you two feel about abnormality."

Vernon could almost feel the desire to know more radiating from his beloved. Taking a deep shakey breath, he focused tightly on the young man. "Harry, can you promise whatever you do won't hurt us?" After receiving a quick nod, he tried to build up his resolve. "Do what you need to do then."

Harry nodded, then held his right arm up. As green threads leaped from his palm he heard a gasp. Pausing he looked at Petunia who had a stunned look. "Harry... that is magic. How can you do that without a wand?"

His mind raced. Magic? Well, that seemed as reasonable as 'green light threads'. Frankly more reasonable, now that he thought about it. "A wand? Do they look like sticks? Dad and Voldemort had those."

Petunia seemed even more startled. "You didn't know you had magic? I could have sworn... Didn't I tell you as a... but..." She trailed off, her damaged memories trying to heal from the years of manipulation by the black daemon.

Harry shrugged and focused back on his palm. As more and more green threads wove into a sheet he reached into himself. 'Hey Jim, can you open the doors to the Red Room? I need to create a connection to a memory down there.'

After a short 'Quack', Harry reached into his world with a rope and connected it to the tombstone memorial. Grasping the other end in his left hand, he began forcing it into the sheet of green threads.

Vernon was honestly at a loss now. As he watched, a green sheet was floating over Harry's right hand, and he seemed to be squishing his left hand into it. As he and Petunia watched, the sheet started flashing colors. Red, blue, some black.

Like a camera focusing, suddenly he could see the outside of a house.

Harry watched grim faced as a dark memory began to play.

~~~Core Threads~~~

As the screen flashed with killer green, Harry relaxed back into his chair. Vernon and Petunia kept staring at the screen, Vernon shivering from hearing the voice of Voldemort, Petunia crying over seeing her sisters death. Harry had noticed Dudley heading up the stairs, he had apparently thought they were watching tv and had better things to do.

After a few minutes of silence, Harry spoke. "I would like to propose a deal."

Vernon blinked, eyes finally focusing on the now instead of the horrors they had just witnessed. He honestly had no idea of what to do next, so any plan seemed good enough at the moment.

Harry absently ran fingers through his hair. "I have spent the last few days healing, improving myself, and gathering supplies. Originally I was just going to force you both to leave me alone so I could continue, but I didn't know how badly the evil baby was messing with this house. I have new skills now, and I would be willing to trade services and items."

Petunia moved forward and hugged the boy, ignoring his tension. "Harry, you are family. You shouldn't have to treat us like strangers."

Vernon nodded absently. "Now that the... THING is dead, I have no problem with you." He looked shamed-face, "Honestly I would feel better if you would let us try and make up for our treatment of you. Regardless of WHY we were so evil, we did hurt you." His eye caught on the cupboard door. "Case in point, we can at least get you a real bedroom."

Petunia seemed confused before horror dawned on her face, "Oh GOD, we shoved him under the STAIRS?!"

Laughter interrupted both of them. They watched a bit stunned as Harry giggled back in his chair. "Oh, I think I will be fine down there. In fact, I insist. Here, let me show you something."

The lad led the way to the locked door. Pressing his hand against it, Vernon watched the tiny entrance swell into a full sized door, the lock warping into a solid metal door knob. He probably should be shocked, but at this point he was just too overloaded. As the door opened, he heard Petunia gasp.

The room was made of polished wood, and was massive. The carpet looked like grass, and the wood walls and roof seemed to be sky. Vernon's mouth went a bit dry. "Uh. Yes, this seems nice."

Petunia knelt down and rubbed the carpet. "How... Just how?"

Harry shrugged. "I found out I can use my threads to tear things apart and put them back together. Started with my arm, ended up creating clothing and this room." He glared at the ceiling. "Not sure how it got bigger inside though. That was sort of an accident."

Petunia seemed lost. Vernon tried to move back to something mentioned earlier. "You said trade. What do you need?"

Harry seemed to be making a mental list. "I need raw materials first of all. Cloth of any type to make clothing, sheets, and so forth. Metal to make more bed springs. Plastics and wood would let me build furniture and such. I also need knowledge. Teach me how to read, give me access to books. I also need some odd things, experiences. I need to see things, hear and smell things. Maybe a trip to a zoo, or just walks in the park." He seemed to go a bit absent. "I would like to see ducks."

Petunia hesitantly placed a hand on his shoulder. "That all sounds fine, Harry. I am not sure where it would be best to get the materials and stuff, but I think the zoo would be easy enough."

Harry grinned a bit. "Tell me, Aunt Petunia. Have you heard of recycling?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

About thirty minutes later and 8 bags of trash now sat in the living room. Petunia seemed a bit stressed at this trash being back in the house, but Harry seemed ecstatic. He rubbed his hands, "Ok, how about we split this fifty-fifty? I split and clean this into base components, and the family gets half. I am pretty sure the electronics have gold or copper in it, and you can pay me to make or repair stuff using your half of the resources."

Vernon was still breathing a bit roughly from dragging the bags in. How much stuff had they piled on Dudley over the years? He nodded assent as he collapsed into his chair.

Harry was almost giggly. He had slept a bit roughly last night worrying about today, trying to prepare for situations ranging from random screaming to a massive attack of ninjas. True, many of those scenarios made less sense now that he had woken up, but it never hurt to be prepared. At this point however, he had received hugs! Even if he had to beat someone up later, this was turning into a great day.

He spread both hands and had four or five ropes dig into the pile. He decided to leave the bags sealed, and began searching for any coins or bills missed. Apparently there were a few wallets in the bags, and he reformed the bills and coins in a small pile outside the trash. "Looks like Dudley really should have checked his pockets and wallets before adding them to the trash." Petunia just stared at the pile. She had thought she had cleaned out all of that while cleaning.

As Vernon relaxed in the chair and Petunia began sorting the money, Harry began feeling for gold. Ignoring the gasps around him, he began building a square of material as the bags wiggled and threads searched inside the various toys and gadgets. When finished, Harry had a glittering finger-tip sized rectangle on the floor. Soon after, a double finger sized copper bar formed next to it.

Now he began the more boring part.

Vernon watched as threads seemed to pour out of the bags, thousands of colors that seemed to drain into a white mass on the floor. As the pile got larger, the bags began shrinking much faster, seeming to deflate like a balloon. Petunia had picked up the money and was now looking in her hand at the copper and gold bar. "I guess we could take these to a pawn shop or something. Where do we sell gold?"

Harry shrugged. "Honestly, I am not sure how I know as much as I do. I think some of Voldemort's general world information is still in me somewhere. I really shouldn't know so many words, or what my body parts are named. Since he was a mage... wizard? Sorcerer? Whatever, since he was magic he doesn't have a large amount of knowledge about the non-magic world." The white pile began weaving itself into a thick folded blanket as he talked. "So I have no clue where to sell anything."

Petunia put the bars and cash on a side table and felt the blanket. "This is amazing Harry. Why is it so white?"

Harry shrugged as he continued weaving. "Far as I can tell, my thr... I mean, my magic, it thinks that the dye is dirty. Cleaning the thread makes it this white, and since I don't have any dye I have to fill it with my threads to make it a specific color." He stopped using his left hand and plucked his shirt. "I clean my clothing the same way each morning. It feels great but I have to redo the color each time."

Petunia sat back on the couch and thought a bit. "Harry, we could probably sell the gold at a pawn shop and get you some stuff that won't be in those bags." She held up a hand and absently rubbed her arms. "Raw silk and stuff should be cheaper than custom fitted things, and if we went to a thrift store you could get all kinds of cheap randomly sized things to turn into supplies."

Vernon's eyes narrowed as he looked at the copper bar. "Copper is not cheap either, and I know that Grunnings has all kinds of metal debris and such that could be valuable. We could set up a small company and contract ourselves as recyclers."

Petunia smacked his shoulder. "Dear, he may act mature but Harry is still only eight years old. We don't want him to do an actual job, it would be child labor. A hobby moving at his own pace is totally different."

Harry paused and looked up, eyes wide. "Really? I am eight? Do you know when my birthday is?"

Petunia bit her lip but responded. "Oh... of course dear, I... I mean. Before everything happened I received a letter from Lily when you were born. I believe it was July 31, back in 1980." She seemed troubled for a minute. "I... I can't seem to remember the last birthday you had..."

Vernon frowned. Now that he looked back, he couldn't remember Harry at ANY of the holidays. They had no pictures of him either. He got a firm look in his eyes. "Well, we can't have that. Your last birthday should have been last month, we can celebrate it next Saturday. If Dudley asks, we will act like you just arrived today, since you look so different from before."

Harry quickly looked back to his work, trying to hide the small tears in his eyes. He had not even thought about getting a party. He subconsciously thought only normal boys got to have such things. He smiled as he began extracting the plastic from the vastly thinner bags. Maybe he wouldn't have to escape this place after all. They may not be his parents, but maybe they could still be family.


	9. Plans and Pantry

As Vernon carried the much smaller bags out to the trash, Petunia watched Harry continue to work. His hands seemed to float and dance like a musician as his eyes glowed. Unlike before, she didn't feel sick or smell tainted air, this time the air felt excited, as if something amazing was just out of sight and she could almost touch it.

She stopped playing with the bar of copper. "Harry, I... I can't really remember how much I told you about your world. Honestly, the last time I really saw any magic like this was back when we were eleven."

Harry's hands seemed to jerk a little, before his green eyes followed her words. She smiled a little. "We didn't know it was magic of course, but one day we got this letter. Lily always had strange things happen when she was mad or whatever, but we were young. Then one day, this really nice envelope showed up. It said Lily was to attend a school for wizards and witches."

Harry absently waved a hand, and Petunia watched the newly created white cloth fold itself and move aside as more white cubes of plastic began to form. He seemed hooked on her every sound, and she felt a small warmth inside at how cute he looked. Right now he was not moving like an assured but tiny adult... he was just a little boy listening to a story. She smiled. "Mom thought we were playing pretending at first, until the next letters showed up. Then a couple of days later, a bird showed up."

Harry tilted his head, cubes forming into a pile. "So... it was like a magic bird or something?"

Petunia shrugged. "Probably, I guess. Apparently wizards use owls to send mail."

The young man paused. In fact, all the cubes froze for a moment. "Huh. Well, that seems a bit silly. Unless you make the bird super smart or something. Heck, how do they even check to make sure the mail gets delivered? Not like a bird can make reports or sign in or whatever."

His Aunt almost giggled, "The one that showed up actually smacked Lily in the head. I thought it served her right, since I didn't get my letter." Her face sort of fell, as sadness crept into her eyes. "We had an argument about that. I even tried to beg mom and the witch that came to help Lily to take me too. We had done everything together, so when Lily found out she was a witch, we thought I would be one too."

Harry leaned forward. "Well, it makes sense to me. How did they check if you were one or not?"

Petunia leaned back, blinking away any possible tears. "Well, apparently there is a registry in the school, and when a magic person is born they show up there. The woman who came to help Lily shop didn't really say much to me about it, although I wasn't exactly calm or able to think straight at the time."

The boy went back to working on the cubes, as the remaining amount of trash bags collapsed into themselves. "Well, it may not matter. I am not sure I am a wizard."

She blinked away memories. "What? Of course you are, just look at all this!"

Harry chuckled. "Exactly. Do I LOOK like I am using a stick? From what I can tell, every other magic person does. Well, all the ones I have seen so far. Did the woman who showed up for Mom have a stick?"

Petunia seemed a tad off balance. "Yes, I think. I know Lily showed me her stick when she got back from some sort of magic shop. But you have to be a wizard. Maybe not all of them need sticks or whatever."

He moved his hand and the cubes began floating and stacking on the floor. "Well, I don't need a stick, I don't know any spells really, I don't yell things when I use my threads. Seems odd enough to me. Still, more information would help."

"Well, we don't really know how to contact them." Vernon came in from where he had been leaning in the hall, recovering from carrying all those bloody bags. He sighed as he saw the new stack of near-empty bags that now had to go out.

Turning to Harry, he seemed to find some inner strength. "So I think we should make some plans."

Harry nodded as Vernon sat across from him and continued. "The age thing is a big deal. So we will pretend that you were abandoned today rather than back then." Vernon rubbed Petunia's shoulder. "I know some people, so the paperwork should not be an issue. We could home-school you until you reach Dudley's grade, then you can join him in school."

The boy tilted his head. "The story works pretty well, cause Dudley won't really recognize me like this. Won't even have to change my name, since no one used it." Harry tried to ignore the winces from both his listeners. "I can probably catch up pretty quickly if you can get me Dud's old books."

Vernon tried to remember where exactly they had shoved those things. "If we are missing any you need, we can go to a book store." He hugged Petunia's shoulder as his eyes darkened with more than a little shame. "We should probably get you some things for your room too."

Petunia didn't seem to grasp his words at first, before she gasped. "Oh god, we... we shoved you under the stairs, of course you don't have anything." Her eyes began filling with tears as she began gasping, her nerves so rough that she seemed to not feel Vernon's arms. A small hand on her shoulder made her look into green eyes.

Harry gave a small smile. "No, you shoved HIM under the stairs. While being attacked mentally for years. Stronger men and women would have done worse than either of you."

She could barely see him through her tears. "How... HOW can you just let something like this go!? YOU KNOW WHAT WE DID!"

Vernon couldn't even look at him, couldn't even talk.

Harry gave a hesitant hug to the two people falling apart in front of him. "It helps that you both regret the actions. It helps that you were being used like I was being used. We all suffered because of that evil beast, and honestly I feel better knowing you two can really understand what that is like." His eyes looked at them, the green dark and tears unshed. "Remember, while you were being tormented he was inside me. Hurting me, both through you and in my dreams. And I didn't even know that I was fighting at all."

He gave a weak grin. "So, from my point of view, both of the monsters who hurt me died when that daemon did. From your point of view, the monster under the stairs died at the same time. We were all saved from monsters, right?"

Vernon couldn't even cry anymore, he just gripped his wife and... sod it all, his second son. Damn it, he didn't deserve forgiveness, he didn't deserve this feeling. But he was not strong enough to push it away. It felt like this small boy had freed them both from hell, and even if he did not deserve to be saved, Vernon was not going to let this chance leave.

Petunia just kept whispering how sorry she was into Harry's hair, feeling her loves arms wrapping the small boy. She would protect both her kids from anyone, she would not fail again. She felt Harry hug her back, and it was one of the best feelings in the world.

Harry didn't say anything. He knew this moment would go into his green room later, but right now he wanted to feel this moment for as long as he could.

A stray thought made him giggle. He pulled back from the hug and wiped his eyes a bit. "About the room thing, I will probably have better furniture than you guys." He pointed at the blocks of plastic being built. "Get me some wood and stuff, and I bet I can shock your socks off."

He grinned as he went back to work, pulling raw materials together. It was fun to be so relaxed.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry moved cupboard door farther back on the staircase and expanding it into full door size. No reason to always crawl around now that hiding was pointless.

Vernon walked into the space again and slid his hand on the wall, feeling the perfectly smooth wood. The blue color seemed to grow from the gain, to be a part of the original tree. He looked around and saw some cloth bags in the corner. Curiosity made him walk over and look inside. Jerky, energy bars, all kinds of ready to eat food.

"I collected that a few days ago, in case I had to stay here." Vernon looked up to see a slightly hesitant Harry. "My original plan was to get some answers about my past then basically hide here, like a non-aggression pact."

Vernon stood tall and thought about it. "I honestly just feel surprised. Where did this all come from?"

Harry looked aside. "Well, let's just say the pantry has a bit more room."

Petunia looked into the bag. "Dear goodness, when did you get all this? I can't believe we had so much junk food in the house we didn't even notice any missing."

Vernon snorted. "I can. I used to buy all kinds of food, because I couldn't drink. I didn't dare risk losing my focus with that... uh. I couldn't get drunk, I mean."

Harry picked up the bag. "Things changed a lot, didn't they?" He glossed over the earlier statement. Apparently stabbing the thing responsible had been pretty cathartic. Sorting and storing all memories and emotions about the daemon baby hadn't hurt Harry find peace either. "Still, you will probably save a lot of money not having to buy that junk again."

The older man's eyes almost glossed over. "I can drink again. Haven't had a beer in years." Petunia smacked his shoulder with a small smile and picked up one of the bags. She turned to the boy. "Harry, grab the other bag. You won't be sneaking food around. Lily would have us be your family, and a family eats together."

Harry grinned as he picked up the bag. He had been prepared to live alone, building and learning even without anyone to help. Now he had a real chance at something he had never expected, a real home. Hearing Petunia talk about being a family had pushed his ability to stay calm. He opened his new bedroom door and dragged his emergency rations to the kitchen.

Hearing Petunia behind him, he grinned and waved his hands. Thousands of threads filled the closet, and he had to close his eyes from the unexpected light from them rubbing and passing through each other. As his eyes cleared he heard Petunia gasp. His mouth hung open a little too.

Petunia had just reached the kitchen before a bright white light flashed, almost blinding her. As she blinked her eyes clear, she saw little Harry with his hand outstretched toward the pantry.

Well, it HAD been her pantry. Now it was a deep closet with shelves on each side. Every shelf was organized, food grouped and presented label forward. She turned to Harry, who seemed as stunned as she was. "Uh... I just wanted it organized. It seemed like a funny idea at the time." He seemed slightly out of it as he wandered into the room. "This is neat, but unexpected. It feels strange too."

She cleared her throat. "Good strange or bad strange? It isn't dangerous, is it?" She hesitantly reached a hand out, touching a bag of crisps. It felt normal.

Harry tilted his head. "Not sure. A lot of threads are still here. They seem connected with the floor." He reached into the bag he dragged and pulled out a small package of jerky. Dropping it on the floor, a dimmer flash made them both blink.

Petunia gave a small 'Eep!' and backed out of the closet. "Harry, get out of there right now! Who knows what it is doing!"

Harry turned with a grin, pointing at the Jerky shelf. "I think it's sorting! The original 'sort' threads apparently stayed here after I lost focus when that flash happened." Before she could say anything, he dumped his sack onto the floor. A glow filled the room and a soft rustling was the only sound as the shelves filled slightly. "SEE! I love stuff like this, wish I knew how I did it."

Petunia hesitantly grabbed an energy bar and tossed it into the closet, watching the shelf where it should show up. As she blinked her eyes clear, she saw one extra bar on the stack. She gave a hesitant smile. "Well, I don't like throwing food on the ground but at least it doesn't seem dangerous."

Harry rolled his eyes and pulled her into the room. She seemed to freeze as her foot hit the floor... nothing. She cautiously opened one eye hearing a young giggle. She absently pushed the young boy. "That... not funny, goodness my heart."

His smile broke most of her fear as she calmed down. "Oh no, the magic food sorter of doom!" She smiled a bit, embarrassed that after all the surprises she had gone through today, THIS would be the thing to nearly give her a heart attack. "Well, it's not like I grew up with magic either you know. Lily wasn't allowed to use it when not at school, said that us 'muggles' might find out." Petunia hesitantly poured the wrapped food into the room watching the shelves automatically expand and move to keep from overcrowding each other. If she didn't know better, she would say the room itself had gotten slightly larger when the new food was added.

"What is a muggle?" Harry picked up both empty bags and led her back to his room. He saw Vernon coming down the stairs holding a cardboard box.

"Anyone without magic is a muggle." Petunia held the door for Vernon as he sweatily placed the box down on the green carpet. He seemed too winded to talk right now anyway, apparently those books were heavy. "That is part of the reason I couldn't tell Dudley or Vernon about the magical world, because until you came here there was no one magically connected to that world, so they were not allowed to know."

Harry absently nodded as he began moving the pure white cloth and plastic and metal blocks he had recycled from earlier into his room. "I suppose it would not be much of a secret society if everyone knew about it. Still sorry about the pantry."

Vernon looked up. "Pantry?" Petunia gave a shushing noise and turned back. "Don't worry Harry, the changes are great. I will save loads of time if I don't have to sort everything when I finish shopping."

Harry bit back a small grin seeing Vernon's confused expression. He really appreciated how much his Uncle was trying to help, but he had clearly been out of his comfort zone for a while now. He hesitantly took a deep breath. "Uncle, for my birthday... could we go to the Zoo?"

Vernon felt like cool water had washed over him. FINALLY, something he knew about. No hocus-pocus or whatever, he knew how to handle kids wanting to go out for a birthday. "Of course! Saturday, us and Dudleykins can head over to the one closer to London. Heck, we can make a day of it. Petunia apparently found quite an amount when cleaning Dudley's room."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened and he went to a corner of the room, pulling up the grass green carpet like it was nothing. Pulling up under a board, he pulled a wallet out. "Speaking of money, I already made one withdrawal from Dudley before you guys got around to cleaning up there. As you probably noticed, he had collected quite an amount." He held the leather wallet out to his Aunt.

Petunia took the black wallet and opened it before quickly closing the thing. "GOODNESS, how much cash can one eight year old HAVE!" She opened it again, hesitated, and handing it back to Harry. "Here, consider it missed allowances. Use it responsibly though, not just toss it wherever." She leaned against her husband. "Seriously Vernon, we need to keep Dudley dearest from treating money like it was worthless."

Vernon had missed a good amount of the conversation, relying on his practiced "Yes dear" reflexes as he planed out a birthday. Nothing huge, he didn't want to overwhelm the boy. Lunch at a restaurant, spend time at the zoo... they had a tiny train there, didn't they? Dinner maybe at a steak house. It had been a while since they had eaten out.

Harry put his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans, and began focusing on improving the room. Apparently the threads he had used to paint the walls had caused them to subtly glow like in his dream world, which is why they could see without any real light sources. Still it would be awkward to explain to others. He would need some basic furniture, or at least some more raw materials. For now he took a couple of metal cubes and moved over to his bed.

Placing three cubes near the edge of his mattress, he used some ropes to pull one of the white cloths over and began working. The metal rapidly began to vanish as all the springs in his mattress increased in length and thickness, and the bed itself seemed to enlarge as the materials and cloth vanished into it. With an afterthought, Harry re-colored the entire bed brown like a log, and began weaving some more of the white cloth into a thick blanket. He felt a nudge on his shoulder.

Petunia was standing there holding a bed-sheet, two pillows and a cover. Harry gave a smile and grabbed the two pillows, ropes already devouring them and combining the stuffing. In his hands they merged into a thick and long pillow with a seamless cover, colored like green moss. Placing his new pillow on the bed, he absently bound the bottom of his new cover and sheet with the bottom edge of the mattress and used excess cloth to continue the patterns of the coverings to fit the new bed.

As he finished, he realized his Aunt and Uncle were silent. He turned as Petunia knelt and touched his pillow. "Harry, you have a gift." She saw his eye-roll and shook her head. "Aside from the magic I mean. This bed is beautiful." Her fingers rubbed the now moss patterned coverings. "These look beautiful you know. All the things you have made so far are beautiful."

He gave a nervous chuckle. "Hard to pin a bed on the refrigerator though, right?"

She gave him a smile. "Well, I am sure you could find a way. Could we trick you into doing stuff like this in the house? Not as obvious as the pantry, since Vernon has clients that may visit, but clothing like yours or decorations like these?"

Vernon nodded. "I know I would love to have extra hands to help me fix up the place. I always felt like SOMETHING was breaking or needed repair around here."

Harry could have lit the sun with his smile. He never realized how much he had desired to be wanted, needed for something. "I may fall for a few dastardly clever plots to help out around here. I may need practice fixing things, but I bet we can figure something out."

Vernon couldn't help but smile at the young boy. "Well, I got work in the morning but we should have time to introduce you formally to Dudley in the afternoon. I think we should take a break for now, but let us know if you need anything. Be careful to stay here today so it will look like you showed up tomorrow. Petunia will stop by with lunch and dinner."

Petunia nodded and gave another hug to Harry. He hesitantly hugged back, and after watching the door closed behind them just tried to stand still, holding the recent memories like a warm blanket. He absently picked one of the school books from the box and began looking at each page. Study and learning would happen later, after viewing each page so they could be rebuilt in his memories. Might as well take advantage of his faster mind world.


	10. Healing the Family

Harry sighed and put down the book. He was in a purple library, on the softest chair he could remember, working on one of the many texts Vernon had provided. Coming back to his world had seemed like a great idea at first, since time moved so differently here... until Jim started making idle suggestions.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose again. It wasn't that he didn't like the company of the duck, not at all. But Harry had things to do, and all these breaks were really becoming annoying. Still, he had already studied for a very long time here, and had learned some interesting things.

Harry replaced the math book on one of the near shelves, and watched the books sort themselves. Having accidentally done something similar to the pantry, he had taken the memory of the accident and studied it for a few hours. Jim had suggested this would save time since his mental library would always be ready and sorted.

He snorted. Well, it should THEORETICALLY save time. Except it had taken a few internal DAYS to get all the bugs worked out. After dozens of tries where nothing happened at all, the shelf had actually sorted JIM into the shelfs too. Harry rubbed his elbow. Stupid duck had REALLY sharp fangs. And thin feathers. Not like he was sorted on purpose or anything, although Harry probably should have stopped laughing sooner. Or not fallen over.

He decided a break was needed. His reading level had quickly improved after memorizing all those books, although a couple had words blocked by his hands and he had to exit his inner world to fix them. After another glance at each page, he had came back in, molded the two memories together, then squished them back into books, THANKFULLY complete books this time. In any case, he had learned an important (if obvious) lesson: If he never saw it, he couldn't remember it.

Wandering out of the purple library, he entered the white wood hall. He glanced at another featureless wall of the corridor and couldn't suppress a smile. He had made another door inside the green room, which he now heavily suspected was his magical core. He was building a model of number 4, Privet Drive. Even a half day ago he would never suspect that he would hold any form of sweet memory of the place. This model was already being filled with memories of his very first hug, the first smile he could remember from anyone, a pat on the shoulder, and someone planing a party JUST for him.

He wandered upstairs to the grasslands. As he viewed the duck facilities, he sighed. Jim had increased his forces due to the larger number of rooms Harry had asked him to patrol, and had requested raw materials. After Harry had provided memories of the wood in his room (The walls, and so forth), the tiny duck had ordered squads to get going. Harry had been asked to add several new rooms to Snail Quarters, including a room that operated one of his ropes for "Cloud Control" as they put it, the sorting and control of the local memory weather, and a room which allowed memory duplication so that clouds could be properly secured and still allowed to float in the sky if desired.

Now that they had good quality memories of wood, apparently Jim had them duplicating it as well as using memories Harry had gathered from Vernon fixing things. He still couldn't get used to watching tiny ducks hammering away on tiny wood houses.

At this rate there would be an actual village.

Harry was desperately trying to not question the whole thing. He felt that there was a high chance most normal people... Heck, most wizards in general, that they would not have duck villages in their minds. Then again, he had been different his whole life, so why not here too?

He sat on his bench and watched gamma squad arguing with delta squad about how close dwellings should be on a civilian extension of a militarized duck base. At this distance he couldn't tell who was winning, but they were clearly very enthusiastic about their own point of view.

Harry was debating intervening, considering the number of ankle bites he may gather on both sides, when he noticed Jim sitting next to him on the bench. He was unaware a duck could try to act casual.

"... Quack."

Harry snapped his attention back to the ongoing argument. Feathers would probably fly soon. "I don't know Jim, ok? I guess I am fine."

Small feathery eyes watched as an excellent right wing smacked some sense out of another recruit. He glanced up at the human. "Quack?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I just... I don't want to betray my real family. They didn't leave me or anything, not on purpose. They did what they could to save me."

A small yellow head nodded. "Quack. Quack."

Harry slumped into the bench. "I know. And to be honest, I know that I am already considering them family. It is why I have this guilt inside, as if it was all too easy or that I should feel worse somehow."

Jim winged Harry's wrist, giving it soft pats. "Quack."

He took a deep breath, and nodded. "Yeah. And I guess if I am going to really treat them as family..." His eyes shifted, the green piercing through like fire. "I suppose I should treat them how I would my own parents. That black daemon did a lot of damage to them, you know?"

"Quack."

He stood up and stretched. "Thanks Jim. And hey, if I could fix myself, it can't be too hard to help them, right?"

Jim waddled away toward a group of VERY in trouble construction teams as Harry began planning. Tonight would probably be an interesting time for cloud watching. Assuming these teams finished the long list of punishment drills about to be laid on them.

~~~Core Threads~~~

The night was thick and dark in Vernon's bedroom. Petunia was asleep, deeper than she had been for months, maybe years. And Vernon was having an odd dream, the first one since a few days ago.

He was strapped to a table, hurt. He felt so much weight on him, his neck seemed so tight, his arms pinched and sore from the heaviness. From the shadows someone came to his side.

Vernon should have felt terror, he should be screaming... but everything felt so warm. The bed was soft, the night was only pierced by the sounds of crickets, and the person only stood near. He couldn't see a face, but he could feel as the man pressed one hand on Vernons shoulder.

Liquid relief spread quickly, wrapping around his throat, reaching into his lungs, around his spine. He could feel his bones cooling, as if just removed from a freezer, but the coolness only seemed like a glass of lemonade on a hot day. As he lay there, he felt his throat clear, his neck loosen, and he began to breath deeper and less often. Each breath seemed to somehow reach deeper inside, and took less time to fill his body.

Suddenly his heart was wrapped in coldness. As soon as he felt a sharp sting, suddenly the warmth flooded back more than before, as if fire flooded his veins. As the fire burned through him he could actually feel his heart slowing, resting, as if a heavy load had suddenly lightened.

Vernon fell into a sleep so deep he never heard or felt a young hand in the awakening world move away from his body.

Harry watched for a few moments. He knew he couldn't do too much, unlike him Vernon was a very public person, going to work each day and such. Most of his changes had been internal. Cleared lungs, that now took in much more oxygen than usual, his neck slightly restructured to allow better air flow, his bones strengthened and major muscles relaxed. The surprise had been his heart. Harry hadn't expected him to be so close to heart attack, and had to use considerable power to rebuild the weakened muscle and clean it of gunk. Only a few threads had been required to clear out the major arteries and veins of build up.

It was mostly internal things, but already Harry knew this had been a good idea. With his luck, the first birthday could have had become Vernon's funeral. Turning to Petunia, he gripped some ropes and touched her shoulder.

He felt a tug as his bright green threads touched her light blue ones... and he fell into her world.

Petunia was on a beach when she heard a splash. Her calm instantly broken, she twisted on the sand and quickly began searching the waves.

A sopping wet Harry Potter was sputtering in the water, only a foot or so from shore. "THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT!"

Petunia's horror was quickly replaced with righteous annoyance. "HARRY, watch your language!"

He snapped his eyes over to her, and she almost giggled at how large his eyes were. "Uh... oh hi. Lovely day, isn't it Aunt Petunia?"

She stood tall on the beach and tapped her foot. "Apologize young man, language like that is NOT acceptable or polite behavior."

Harry absently wrung his shirt out and walked from the water. "Sorry Aunt Petunia, I uh... didn't know I would be enjoying the water just then."

Petunia could FEEL how different this was from normal. She had had nightmares before, she had had calm rest recently, but this time, this person was different. Her world was mostly gray, and her new charge was vibrant with color. "Apology accepted. Now, what are you doing here?" Her mind began to work faster. "Wait... you... You are supposed to be in bed. How did you even get... where are we?"

The boy gave an awkward shrug. "I seem to have fallen into your mind when I was trying to heal you. Apparently your blue threads have a bit more power than I thought. Vernon's gray stuff didn't bother me at all when I fixed him up."

She raised an eyebrow and gave a firm stare. "Fixed?"

He nodded, a bit sad. "Well, you two had been under the daemon for a while. He took up over eating and I was worried that his health was suffering. I fixed what I could without changing his outward appearance."

She hesitated. She really didn't like remembering the past, especially now that it seemed to really be behind her. Still, her husband came first. "What exactly did you... fix?"

Harry raised a hand and seemed to count off. "Made his neck better able to breath, cleaned his lungs and made them more efficient, reinforced his bones, strengthened a couple of major muscles." He seemed to turn a bit dark. "He also had a very weak heart. Fixed that up, cleaned out the clots and stuff that had been forming."

Petunia held back a gasp. She had suspected, watching how red her husband's face would get, that his health could be pretty bad... but suspecting and knowing were two separate things. She took a ragged breath. "Was... do I have the same issues?"

He shook his head. "From what I can tell your blue threads helped preserve your health, although they have been working for so long that they can't easily keep up with your body's demands. I was just going to do the bone and muscle thing on you, before I was pulled here." He looked around. "Speaking of which, I love what you did here. Never saw the ocean myself, mind you, but it is pretty."

She felt old feelings surge back, ones she thought long gone. "Harry... you... blue threads?"

He nodded, apparently too busy watching the waves to see her face glow with faint hope. "Yeah, you and a couple of people living around here have this incredibly light blue thread system. Most of it seems compressed into a tight ball though, not flowing or warping like mine does. Not really sure what the color means."

Petunia took a deep breath. "So... what do you mean by... I mean." She took another breath and tried again, focusing on the feeling of sand as she sat down. "Harry, you said something about what I did here? This place is just from when I was a girl and we visited the beach."

He nodded pointing at the waves. "Yeah, it looks like your memories are the wave peaks. It is kind of a nifty way of storing your past really, each memory can roll over you this way."

She turned to the ocean and really examined the waves. As she got closed to one, the wave seemed to pause, and the rush of ocean water turned into quiet voices as a little girl... HER, as PETUNIA played house with her dolls. She stepped back, watching the wave break on the shore and go back to the sea.

Harry laid back on the sand. "Anyway, I guess I can't get away with helping you since you saw me. Just don't tell Uncle what I did, ok? I just wanted to make sure you two were alright, I didn't want to make a big deal out of this."

Petunia picked up a hand of sand. Each grain felt like an emotion, many of them mild like the heat of the sun or the feeling of cat fur. "Harry... are we in my mind?"

He looked at her oddly. "Of course. You were here before I accidentally soaked myself trying to heal you. Haven't you been here before?"

She looked into the blue sky. "A couple of times. I just assumed it was a really nice dream."

Harry nodded. "It is one, sort of. Time passes faster here, or at least it does in my mind. I even built things there to hold back the bad stuff and protect my most precious moments. It helps me keep calm. Although I should warn you that you should avoid making any memories into living things." He rubbed his elbow. "I made a creature, and he has a bit of a short temper. Thank goodness I didn't make a zoo or anything."

Petunia couldn't really handle that conversation right now, so she ignored it and focused on the world. "How... how do you change it?"

Harry reached over and grabbed her hand. With his other hand, he reached INSIDE HER PALM. Before she could properly freak out, she saw him pull a light blue thread out. "Use this. You don't seem to have nearly as many as I do, so it will probably take you longer... but that blue thread is similar to what I do."

He waved a hand and THOUSANDS of huge, green cords of light arced into the sand. As her eyes cleared there were two beach chairs and a table with cold juice drinks on it. He settled into one. "Obviously it is easier to use your threads here, since you can actually see them. In the real world I can see them by putting a thread into my eyes, but your power seems lighter, thinner. It would probably hurt you to do that. Practice here instead."

Petunia couldn't look away from her own light blue thread. When he had pulled it out, she had felt a sudden and sharp pain... but now it felt so warm. her whole arm felt like a hug was wrapped around it. She absently fell into the chair besides Harry.

He watched as her thread began moving around, like a child trying to draw her first tree or finger paint. He guessed her lack of magic had to do with the sphere inside her. Unlike his, hers had some sort of hard shell made of light holding it all in. It had actually stung his fingers a bit pulling that tiny thread out of her, but the happiness he could feel from her at holding at tiny piece of magic was worth it to him. He stood, getting ready to leave. "Aunt Petunia, I will see you later. If you ever want to get here on purpose, just use that thread and connect it to your brain. It is how I do it."

She looked up at the boy from her chair, and he pretended to not see the tears. "But... it is all a dream, right?"

He grinned. "Dream world, not a dream. Practice here, learn to get here on purpose, and become great at it. When you can control that thread without thinking, maybe I can get a second one to come out."

Her smile warmed him as he left. He wished he could do the same for Vernon, but his threads felt so cold, like stone. He was worried that any adjustment would break them, not turn into threads.

He may not have helped heal her body, but maybe she could now work on her mind.

Harry retreated to his world, then back to reality. Moving away from the sleeping, crying form of his Aunt, he headed to Dudley's room.

Frankly he was a little stunned at how clean it was. Sure there was some pirate toys scattered on the floor, but that was the point, he could see the FLOOR. The huge heaps from only a day or two ago had vanished, although he probably shouldn't be this shocked having recycled most of it.

The room without piles of crud felt completely different, like a new room entirely.

He reached the bed, and quickly repeated the actions he had done on Vernon. After a second of thought, he also strengthened the boy's heart, his legs, and increased his metabolism a bit. Training someone to eat less was really hard, especially without emotional support. The faster metabolism would make everything a bit easier for the boy... no, for Harry's soon-to-be brother.

Dudley barely moved, but already his skin didn't seem as pale as blood pumped more easily through his body.

Harry retreated downstairs. He hadn't intended on stopping a heart-attack or helping someone reach their threads, but then again when had any of his plans gone as scheduled? At least he felt like something had gone well.

He got into his covers and touched the wall, the glowing light dimming as he prepared to go back to work in his mind. As he fell asleep, he couldn't help a small grin. Jim had been right, helping his family had made him feel great inside... just thinking about calling them family made his heart happy. His mom wouldn't have hated that.

He drifted asleep as his magic moved him back to his purple library. Pulling a science book out for review, Harry sighed and sat back in his chair. Break over, back to the 'joys' of education.


	11. Supplies and Pirates

Harry woke up suddenly. All he could feel was pressure, and...

He realized he was being hugged. Petunia had both arms him, hugging him tightly, mumbling words of 'thank you' repeatedly. Harry awkwardly hugged her back, enjoying the feeling of being wrapped up in arms. "Are you ok Aunty?"

She sniffed and seemed to somehow hug him tighter. "Harry, you... I don't even know how, but you gave me something Lily was never able to, no matter how she tried. HOW did you give me magic?"

Harry was a little confused. "I didn't, Aunt Petunia. I am pretty sure you always had blue threads in you. It was just... really tightly wound up. Like a really tight ball. I pulled a thread out of it, thats all."

Petunia gave him another squeeze, then backed up and blew her nose in some tissues. "I don't know anyone else who has even seen threads, Harry, much less could help someone else like that. Thank you dear."

He awkwardly shrugged. "So, what are we doing today?"

She seemed to compose herself, and take a deep breath. "Well, after I clean the place up a bit and we have breakfast, we are going to go to a couple of thrift stores and a flea market or two. Vernon also gave me some cash before he went to work so we could pick up some wood for your furniture." She wiped her eyes clear as she tried to come up with a good game plan for the day. "Probably will have to have the wood delivered, although the clothing will be easier to carry once you recycle it down a bit."

After a small argument about who would get to cook, Harry managed to win a rock paper scissors contest. He had always liked cooking, he just enjoyed eating more... and now he would get to do both.

Harry moved to the kitchen, absently waving a hand as pans, raw ingredients, and tools began floating towards him from various places around the room.

~~~Core Threads~~~

After a great breakfast, they both piled into a car Vernon had rented for the day. Petunia could drive of course, but had never had the time back in the dark times. Her grin was almost feral as they wove through traffic to the first shopping stop.

Harry firmly denied any gasping, squealing, or other unmanly noises that most certainly did not occur at all, stop laughing, shut up, whatever.

Soon both aunt and nephew were moving down the rows of used clothing, searching for the cheapest and (most of the time) ugliest clothing that was made from useful materials. Wool, cotton, even some polyester was easy to come by. Petunia even found some silk shirts that were horrendously died, a great deal even if orange should never be abused like that. After some quick recycling inside the car and a stop by a dumpster or two, they repeated this at a couple more stores.

They may have ended up spending a bit more than expected, but they had a lot of fun along the way, laughing at some of the horrifying color choices and cuts of clothing that had been donated (And now, being put to a better use than such terrifying body coverings). Petunia also managed to find someone who knew where a few furniture companies were, and they stopped by and recycled some couches and tables into lengths of pure wood that Harry lifted with his green ropes into the car.

He sighed. This would be easier if he could just make the car larger inside like his room and the pantry. Maybe that school Petunia was talking about could help with it. He had kept his eyes opened all day, but everyone they met was the same gray as Vernon and Dudley. Still, lots of raw materials.

Petunia had been surprised when Harry confirmed that all the books had been finished, and at his hesitant request had gladly stopped by a bookstore. He avoided anything school related, not wanting to be forced to go to class he had already surpassed, and focused on books about cooking, how to speak and write other languages, and most importantly to Harry, dictionaries. He grabbed one of each before realizing how expensive everything would be.

Sheepishly he put most of it back, keeping the huge cooking book, two language books (Welsh and Spanish), and three dictionaries (English, Spanish, and Welsh). He would have to come back or go to a library to learn more languages later. He had a strong feeling that communication would always be worth investing time in. He considered trying to find a book on law, but that seemed even more dry than what he had already chosen, so he decided to stick with this.

He also included a big book of animals, but that was totally for research, not fun.

Petunia wisely didn't argue the point, although she did smile a bit watching the tall 8 year old hugging the animal book as she paid for the purchases.

~~~Core Threads~~~

After they moved the last pile of stuff into the house, Petunia and Harry collapsed in the living room. They couldn't float stuff around in front of their house of course, so everything had to at LEAST enter the front door being held by people. Harry may have cheated a bit using some threads here and there, but even so the large AMOUNT of stuff had drained them both.

Petunia didn't even flinch as two bottles of juice floated in from the kitchen. As they both tried to cool off from the work in the overly warm outdoors, she pressed the cool glass bottle against her forehead and relaxed into the cushions. Today had been an experience and a half. Fun, no doubt, but busy. Vernon had rented the extra car for the week so they could get stuff done, and the extra freedom really made her feel years younger.

Harry just watched the threads move piles of cloth, some metals, and wood into his room. He had lots of space in there now, and the raw materials were odd enough without having them sit outside or in the halls. He also felt safer having his new stuff in a place he controlled. Years of paranoia that probably wasn't needed right now. Still, shouldn't hurt anything to keep the stuff out of the way, right?

He absently began to drink some apple juice while Petunia continued to cool her face with hers. If he had better control he could risk trying to expand the refrigerator the same way he had the pantry... or blow it up. Honestly it could go either way with his threads sometimes.

He heard another car enter the driveway. Seeing Petunia's wide eyes, Harry quickly waved his hand again, causing over fifty thick ropes that now joined the existing ones in grabbing items and whisking them into his room. They moved so fast they could actually feel a breeze from it. As the last item entered his room and the door shut, they heard Vernon unlocking the door.

"Now Dudley, as I said before, you won't have to give up your room or anything. Harry is joining the family, all of us." He entered and saw them on the chairs, and stood tall. His body seemed more comfortable today, his skin clear and his eyes brighter. He moved more assuredly and didn't pause to recover as he used to. He grinned at Petunia, and swept her up into a big hug, reaching with his other hand after a moment to ruffle Harry's hair. "Didn't know you two would be back from your trip this soon. Harry, I have someone I would like you to meet."

Vernon reached slightly behind him and pushed the large boy forward. Dudley already seemed slightly taller, his muscles able to handle his large weight better, but he seemed overly shy to meet his cousin for the first time. Dad had said the monster under the stairs had died, so it was safe to have friends over again... but also that they could finally bring in Aunt Lily's boy. Dudley didn't really know how to handle all the changes, and he didn't want to get teased again by someone else his age. Everyone mocked his weight, and how hard school was for him... having someone like that at home was horrifying.

Harry moved forward, looking down slightly at the other eight year old. Smiling, he reached out and shook his hand. "Hello D, my name is Harry, Harry Potter." Feeling the boys hesitance he hid his own uncertainty under some clouds in his mind and gave Dudley a half hug. "So, want to show your cuz around a bit? If you do, it would really help me out."

Dudley didn't really know how to handle this, so he just went with it for now. "Uh... yeah, um. This is the living room, we can't really play here cause mom is worried about making a mess. OH, I found some cool pirate treasure!"

Petunia watched the two run upstairs as her Dudley began talking about all the cool pirate things they could do. Vernon held his arm around her, feeling better today for some reason than he had ever before. It was like everything was easier, he could breath cleaner, his body moved smoother. He whispered into his darling's ear. "So how did today go? I think I got most of his paperwork going through, he should be able to transfer soon if needed."

She whispered back, "He has already memorized all those books." She grinned at his startled look. "We got him a couple of new books at the bookstore after shopping a bit. Lots of materials, as he calls it... some silk, cotton, so forth. Got the wood for free from the back of a furniture store, you know, the broken stuff." Her eyes drifted back to the staircase. "I... I think this may be good for Dudley too. He always seemed alone at school, and the kids that were starting to hang around him seemed really rough around the edges."

He wrapped both arms around her, his chin resting on her head. "I know this is good, for us. I don't know if this is just some sort of rebound from all the darkness we had fallen into, or if this is the way things will be from now on... but either way, I am really grateful for how this is going."

She nodded against his chin. They whispered ideas about where to go for Harry's first official birthday this Saturday for lunch, since Vernon seemed dead set on getting some steak an Petunia could hardly argue against the thought herself. Maybe a fish and chips place would be best, something simple. Meanwhile, two eight-year olds were sailing the seas searching for treasure in a small room with some fake coins.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry decided quickly that hiding who he was to Dudley was a bad idea. Well, he would have decided that, if he hadn't accidentally made the decision within less than 30 minutes of playing pretend. He was so used to using his green threads that pulling a wooden sword back to his hand hadn't even seemed odd until he heard Dudley gasp.

Looking at his wide eyes, he shrugged. "Mom and Dad had magic. So I got some." He grinned. "I am not allowed to show other people, but my favorite cuz is different, right?" Dudley's rapid nods made him smile. "In fact, we can make this room more pirate like if you want."

Dudley was nodding so hard that his head looked dangerously close to falling off.

Harry grinned as he waved a hand, his rope opening the door and pulling in one of the thick wood planks from downstairs. He thought he heard a distant "Eep" from downstairs, but he was busy right now. Pulling the plank into Dudley's room he placed both hands on it and turned to a still wide-eyed but rapidly becoming excited eight-year old. "Do you have a picture of a pirate ship I can see?"

Dudley gave up on logic and decided to focus on "PIRATE", diving for his books and finding a pop-up one that showed a cool ship. He watched Harry stare hard at the paper model, when suddenly the wood under his hands began flowing over the carpet like water.

Rapidly white wood coated the floor, under the bed, under his toys. He could actually see his things lifting up a bit, as the carpet rolled up into a corner. Suddenly Dudley felt himself be lifted by an inch, and looked down at the solid white planks. Looking back at Harry, he saw the wood under him seem to age and turn a dark brown, like the tiny book showed. Grains grew on all the planks, knot holes opened up, and they formed into a steering wheel near the back of his room. When Harry fell back, Dudley watched the walls begin to shift colors, looking blue at the back but orange near the font of his "ship". Like in the book, it was sunset and he could see the image of the rest of the ship being painted where the wood of his floor connected into the wall.

Harry grinned. If he was going to go nuts, why not go all out? Waving his hand again, he heard two "Ooophs" at the door. Both boys jumped, and turned to the open door. Vernon and Petunia were covered in some white cloth Harry had summoned from downstairs. Apparently they had wondered why a huge plank of wood decided to fly through their house.

Harry and Dudley paused.

Harry pointed at Dudley. "He did it."

The expression on Dudley's face would be saved in Harry's green room forever.

The two adults watched the kids argue on the deck of an 18th century pirate ship. It was pretty clear at this point that as much power as Harry had... well, age was still an issue. A cute issue, yes. But kittens shouldn't be able to move logs through a house. Or rebuild a bedroom to look like it is at sea.

Well, Vernon actually thought that would have been awesome. But he had been married long enough to know that some thoughts were better kept to himself. Or at least until he got to spin that awesome ship wheel a few times.

Petunia seemed to be holding her head in her hands. "Harry, just... only your room and here, ok? Don't mess with places where people walk around a lot. You need to keep your abilities a secret, remember?"

After a sheepish "Yes Aunty." and a loud "I TOLD YOU IT WASN'T ME", both children went back to the rich old game of "Nuh-huh, Yeah-huh" as the adults retreated from the room.


	12. Hurry up and wait

July 31 was coming up soon. His birthday, again.

Harry nervously watched the window. According to Petunia, her letter showed up around when she turned eleven, sometime in July. She still seemed positive that he was a wizard. After meeting a few, Harry was even LESS sure than before.

Young boys and girls with colored threads didn't know what he was talking about. The adults kept laughing him off, or told him to keep it down if others were near. Even when he spied on them, they never did much with their threads like he did.

But he had learned what he could. He now could read, speak, and understand many languages. He had found the section of his mind world where his own language was stored and had expanded it with memories of dictionaries and conversations he overheard in various languages. He had even found a couple of languages he didn't remember that he thought may have come from the scar daemon, one that talked to snakes and one that told how to communicate with something called a "Dementor".

He had a feeling that the definitions and methods of talking to the Dementors was behind in the metal room, in the locked part. The language itself felt so sick that he had moved it into the metal room just on principle. Anything that oily shouldn't be just laying around his mind.

He had learned a LOT about cooking. Even took some classes on it, since the Dursley's really loved his cooking they encouraged it.

But as far as his magic was concerned, he had only increased the number and thickness of his green threads. Jim had made some progress in Snail Quarter, they could now control several ropes and sorted most of Harry's memories for him. He only had to show up each night and verify everything went where he wanted it, and they only rarely made mistakes... well, as long as the memory was not about birds. They could be surprisingly biased for and against various avian memories.

Apparently Jim thought geese were evil.

Still, he had practiced his skills over the last couple of years. Recycling took almost no thought thanks to practice, and Harry had gone back and practice the flame creation he had stumbled upon way back when. He had played with the ropes, rapid rotating more and more ropes in various patterns. In the process he had created many types of flames, although they were all the same bright green as his eyes.

The basic ones didn't create heat, only light. He could actually do it across his whole body by simply rubbing two ropes through each limb.

The most complex one was four sets of two ropes, each one spiraling around each other clockwise while the pairs rubbed counter-clockwise. It had created a green beam that cut a hole through a tree and almost hit a house.

Aunty was not happy with that one. Most fire experimentation stopped after that.

He had seen other people with light blue cores like Aunty. Like hers, their body had tightly coiled the blue into a small ball, with some sort of covering around it. Well, hers USED to be like that. He had managed to free four threads for her, and she had learned how to actually pull and push stuff around. She really couldn't do it for long though before she got tired and had to take breaks.

She still hugged him once in a while for that though.

His eyes drifted to the window again. He knew that if he WAS going to get the letter, it should show up today, or some time soon. School wasn't that long away.

After a few failures at finding contacts in the magical world, they had decided to wait. They didn't want to risk using his real name, in case Voldemort had any followers looking to finish the job he failed at, and apparently most wizards and witches were scared of spilling the secret of magic to random children... which Harry understood, really.

So he and "D" (as he liked calling Dudley) had gone to school and learned. After a few classes Harry had to stop reviewing course materials while sleeping or else he got too far ahead, so he began setting up study groups with classmates. It helped him and D make new friends, since D had always been self conscious and Harry was the "new kid".

He would take "new kid" over "freak" any day.

For any celebration (or reason) he always tried to convince the family to go to a zoo. Most of the times the one that was closest, although for last year they had gone to the London Zoo. Harry had gained so many good memories that some of his memory clouds were chained together by sub-categories.

Jim thought the new design would help keep the training troops from being sunburned... although with no sun, Harry had never really bought that argument. Each cloud was a bit unstable, and if any duck touched one it would fill the sky as each cloud cascaded into the others... and Harry felt that Jim just liked stacking them up again like blocks.

Still, it kept the troops happy. There were worse reasons to do things.

Bloody owl, show up! Not like there was even a scheduled time for random creatures to visit houses in the first place. They had even celebrated his eleventh birthday earlier this month so they would have free time if they needed to do something with the letter.

Dudley was kind of having fun. Harry very rarely lost his cool, and he was squirming like a toddler who had to go potty. He would feel better though if the owl never showed. Having an older brother was awesome. Oh they knew they were cousins, but he was taller and stuck up for Dudley all the time. He had helped him make new friends who didn't keep asking him to do things like borrow money or whatever, and told the meaner and older boys to go away.

He wrinkled his nose. Harry still was too nice to girls though. They had cooties, he had heard it from someone, so it was probably true. He honestly didn't have a very strong theory of what exactly cooties WERE, but he knew girls had them and they were not supposed to be good.

Dudley knew Harry had checked him and saw he didn't have the right threads. It had bothered him for a few months, but Harry had helped him get used to the idea. Of course it didn't hurt that Harry had rebuilt his bedroom to look like outer-space and had helped him get more muscles... although that had felt weird. Like bending his arm the wrong way without the pain. They had to do that during the summer break so no one would freak out about how much he had change, and Mom got really huffy about us not asking first. Well, either that or body part replacement. Parents, honestly.

Petunia was more than slightly nervous herself. She didn't want to let her Harrykins go away to that school, not like Lily did. What if he never came back? Or got hurt? Would she even get to see him if he did? She tried to not think at all and went back to cleaning the living-room again. She knew it was already sparkling, but at least it kept her mind busy. Every once in a while she would rub Harry's hair and watch him try and fix it again, just to make sure he was still there.

Vernon was reading the Daily Mail upside-down, but no one was willing to tell him. He never found it easy to show emotions, but he didn't want to let this boy go after only this short time. The kid seemed to radiate peacefulness, like a hug. Watching him smile made the room feel brighter. Out of everyone there, Vernon was the only one actively NOT looking at the windows.

They heard someone walking up to the door, but Harry didn't look. He heard Jim, it was a non-magical, apparently the postal man... wait. He looked at Petunia. "That is the post man. Any chance they would send it by regular mail?"

Petunia paused... theirs had been by owl, but it didn't mean they REQUIRED it to be by owl, right? As she went and collected the mail, Harry stood suddenly and followed. At her raised eyebrow he shrugged, "After the mailman left, a creature with brown threads landed on our mailbox. Seems too close to be a coincidence."

She didn't question him, by now everyone was used to Harry knowing what was happening around his home. They had even went out back and found a stone in the backyard that he said everything was tied into, and she had no real idea of how it worked. He had seemed happy repairing the stone, saying things like how much clearer everything was, but she couldn't tell heads nor tails of it.

As she reached the door she saw the mail, and as she picked it up she checked outside. An owl was there, maybe waiting for a response? She closed the door and handed the letter labeled "Mr. Harry Potter, the cupboard under the stairs" to the green-eyed boy beside her.

His eyes quickly memorized the letter, and he handed back. He walked into the other room and sat in a chair, going still.

Petunia knew he was going to heavily review it in his mind, but she wasn't that adapt at getting to her mind world. Walking in the other room, she sat and read the letter.

It seemed Hogwart's Headmaster was important, or at least had a lot of titles. The letter itself was distressingly vague. It told when it needed a reply and when school started, but that was it. Well, this wouldn't do at all. She pulled out some paper and a pen from a drawer and began writing as Vernon looked over the two pages.

**_Dear Mrs. McGonagall. We received your letter hopefully promptly today, on July 24th. However, no one in my family has gone to Hogwarts except my Sister, Lily Potter (Lily Evans at the time). We need a lot more details... Where do we go to get his supplies, where do we get that money they use, how do we get him to school, and so forth. We would also like a better method of communication, such as a non-magical mailing address or non-magical phone number, some way we can contact our nephew while is so far away._**

**_Harry has many personal questions he would probably like answering as well, questions involving a certain dark wizard and his parents. Until he remembered that horrible night, I didn't even know what had happened to my own Sister! We have spent the last two years trying to contact anyone in the magical world to get guidance on the best way to raise a magical child, but have found no one willing to talk to us._**

**_Please send someone to help us prepare our charge for a new world. If we can not be assured that he will be cared for properly, then we would rather not send him alone to who knows where._**

**_Please respond soon;_**

**_Petunia Dursley (Formally Evans)._**

She looked over and handed the letter to Harry, who had stood next to her half way through the letter. He added some script at the bottom.

**_Dear Mr. Dumbledore, Mrs. McGonagall, Or whom it may concern;_**

**_I am not entirely sure why I was abandoned with people who could not care for my unique condition, but I have a working theory. Needless to say, a face to face meeting is a necessity, as I have already gained some experience of the darker side of your world and very little of the less evil variety._**

**_If you or your associates are unaware, my parents were murdered by a dark creature of a man named Voldemort, who..._**

Harry sighed and marked used a thread to erase the last sentence. It was probably not safe to trust a bird of all things with this kind of information. Bending back over the letter, he tried again.

_**I have a list of needs that must be fulfilled for me to consider joining Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Top of this list is a guide to help us on our journey. The lack of information in your introductory letter is both disturbing and feels disrespectful, considering how much you know of my local situation (As shown by the address).**_

_**Please respond;**_

_**Harry James Potter.**_

A quick signature and Petunia read it over. After she nodded, he walked to the front door as she began explaining to Vernon and Dudley what had happened and what they were doing at the moment. He walked down the mailbox, and looked closely at the owl.

Who just happened to be looking closely at him.

Creepy.

Harry took a breath. "Are you a mail delivery owl, one capable of delivering a response to an acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft an Wizardry?"

The owl looked for a second, then bobbed its head.

Harry shrugged. "Good enough for me." Not like they had any other options really, it was owl way or the high way honestly. He saw some string on the owls leg and tied the letter back on, with the new label on the outside directing it to "Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts". Almost instantly the owl took off and flew in a straight line away.

He sighed. Hopefully he had actually responded instead of assaulting random wildlife. He turned back to the house, ready to start the whole waiting process again. The wizarding world may have separated from the non-magical one, but clearly mail delay had made it across the gap just fine.


	13. Welcome to Gringotts

Professor McGonagall was normally a tall witch, wrapped in propriety and draped with the feeling of suppressed power. Her stern expressions normally set children firmly within the rules and her professional manner gave her great respect within the teaching community.

Right now though, she was draped over a chair before a desk covered in parchment. Lesson plans for her next year had to be updated with changes and discoveries in the magics of Transfiguration, some of which she was proud to have discovered herself over her 70 years. Plans for new seventh year projects, forms to help her little lions try and get ministry positions or apprenticeships, even rough letters to old friends whom she hoped would be able to give advice for some of her more difficult charges.

She tucked an errant strand of hair back under her hat. All this work, and she couldn't even begin on it until more of her Deputy Headmistress responsibilities had been addressed. She had spent most of the morning going through dozens of letters to new students, and every year the process seemed more daunting. A good number this year had to be sent via the muggle postal system and she had been forced to go bother Professor Burbage about the proper method of sending bulk letters. Thankfully the Muggle Studies professor had not minded the interruption, but Charity had always been a dear.

Wishing for another cup of tea to help keep her headache suppressed, she went back through the various responses. Thankfully most of the new witches and wizards managed to get a response sent by owl this year, so only a few home calls would be needed. Maybe she could delegate a few, she knew her work load was unreasonably high this year.

She absently looked at the solid door leading deeper into the castle. Albus Dumbledore, her fearless leader, the leader of the light... She shook her head. He had been doing better for a while, but once again he seemed very distracted. If the political climate was not so volatile, she would be tempted to beg him to retire. A grim look settled on her face as she leaned back into her chair.

Lucius Malfoy had been pressing hard. As a governor of Hogwarts, he had been repressing almost everything, from replacing teachers, giving raises or hiring assistance, even just replacing older equipment like the school brooms. As bad as he was in the political arena, the damage he was causing just being a brick on the board of governors was hurting the future of the wizarding world much more.

Her eyes flashed with resolve. Well, not if she could help prevent it. True she had better offers from other friends, places with low work loads and high pay... but there were things more important than money. Her tired eyes looked back at a letter response from a familiar name. She was not sure why she hadn't been able to remember the son of her favorite student and one of the four most infamous pranksters... but she would do everything in her power to help him.

With a flick of her wand, she gathered her muggle traveling kit and moved to change into something less conspicuous. Whatever magic Albus had placed on dear Harry Potter, it clearly had worn down to where she could remember him again, and it was worth putting her work on hold to help the boy who had saved them all.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Petunia was just cleaning up after lunch when she heard the front door give a firm knocking. Wiping her hands dry she opened the door to see a severe-looking woman with dark hair tied into a bun. Her posture was prim and she wore a rich dark robe... and they both seemed surprised at the other.

After an awkward pause, the woman seemed to pull herself back on track. "Mrs. Dursley, I presume? I received communication that you wished to converse with me. I am professor McGonagall for the school your charge has been invited to."

Petunia tried to secretly straighten her clothing as she opened the door. "Of course professor, we... um. Sorry about the mess, we didn't expect a response so soon."

She smiled slightly. "You may call me Minerva, as it is thankfully still summer. Still, your letter convinced me that neither of you received the proper documentation after his first accidental magic use."

Petunia led Minerva into the living room. "No, Harry never gets mail. And please, call me Petunia." She left the Professor and knocked on the door into the grass room under the stairs. "Harry, we have a guest. Mrs. McGonagall has arrived to help answer our questions."

Minerva heard a young but firm voice from the hall. "Really? That was quite fast. I will be there in a minute Auntie, I need to finish binding my threads first."

"Well, don't take long, I want you with me so I don't forget to ask anything." Aunt Petunia moved and sat across from the professor. "Would you like some tea or other refreshments?"

She shook her head. "Thank you but no, Petunia. I had a few cups of tea earlier today, but I appreciate the offer."

Petunia glanced at the hall, before looking sharply at the woman. "Before he gets here, I need to know. Did either you or Mr. Dumbledore know about the thing inside of Harry when you two dropped him on our doorstep?"

Minerva jerked slightly. "THING!?" She tried to control her anger. "I will have you know madam, that Harry James Potter is not a... The very thought! He was a babe!"

Petunia shook her head. "Not the child, the thing inside of him. The darkness, the evil."

Minerva felt such emotions she could not decide whether to attack this woman for insulting her worlds savior or just kidnap him away from such a person. Before she could say anything, a young boy walked into the room. She lost track of everything. "J.. James?"

Harry had felt the emotions in this room escalating but was blindsided by the comment. "No, his son. I thank you for the compliment though, I am proud that I look like him." He held a hand on Petunia's shoulder. "I feel I should clarify Auntie's statement though, the one about my evil."

Her eyes bore into him with surprising intensity. "You are not evil, not by far."

He grinned. "Not after I took care of the thing left inside me, I am not."

Professor McGonagall tried to say something, then just leaned back and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Mr. Potter, I am very lost now. How about we exchange stories? Your letters showed a significant lack of information, and our world had no clue where you went after the tragic events of that Halloween."

Harry nodded. If this woman was to be of assistance, information exchange was obvious. "My story comes in two parts, and is fairly personal. The summary though is this: On the night of my parents murder, Voldemort left some part of himself inside of me. My scar never healed, and it began corrupting my family, taking them over, causing them to harm me. After a fairly vicious attack, it accidentally went too far."

He tapped his scar. "It used so much power that it almost went unconscious. Without it distracting me, I stumbled on some of my power. Healing myself showed me the foul creature, and the rage and evil it leaked pushed me into such a rage that I killed it."

Minerva was only aware her mouth was open when she saw Harry's grin, and tried to straighten her thoughts. "You mean to tell me that you fought You-Know-Who as a with accidental magic? How old were you?"

Harry frowned slightly at her avoidance of the name. He had noticed her flinch earlier, but tried to stay focused. "At the time I didn't know, but I turned out to be eight. And the whole process was fairly easy... it just had some rough consequences."

She narrowed her eyes and pulled out her wand. "Mr. Potter, may I quickly scan you for possession, curses, and so forth? Underestimating that thing is dangerous."

Harry nodded, watching her closely. Wand magic was fascinating! When she picked it up he could see light blue threads from the wand reach into her core and flare with power. Each movement of the wand did strange things to the rope inside, creating waves, ripples, and points in the air. Each word slightly modified the color of the thread, and the final motion tied the pieces together and pushed it into him. He mentally told Jim to not resist any actions of the strange threads, but to keep a close watch.

Minerva almost made a mistake as she saw Harry's eyes glow green. She tried to keep her heart calm and her hand steady as she ran diagnostic charms and detection spells. There were no traces of evil, no signs of darkness... no illusion, no imperious (No symptoms for that either, but better safe than sorry). She was a bit concerned that he was so short, healthy as he appeared.

Petunia was tense at first when the wand appeared, but Harry seemed fine with it. It was sort of pretty watching each color move and zing around. She and Harry had never been able to help her see the threads like he could, but she could see general colors now, and Minerva's purple was amazing to watch flow through the air, strange sparks and colors appearing in the beam.

Finally the professor stopped. "Well, whatever you did left no trace I can detect." She sat back slightly winded in her chair. Some of those charms were fairly advanced even for her, but no one could risk the Dark bastard taking over the-boy-who-lived.

After a pause, she sat straight again and tried to find her calm. "I believe it is more than clear that you two know of Vol... Voldemort. Are you aware of the things he did in the past?"

Petunia shook her head no, but Harry was quiet. "When I killed the daemon baby thing he left in my head, I got access to a large amount of his memories, if not all up to the point of insertion." He pointed to his forehead. "I entered my mind scape and captured most of them, cleaning out the emotions and binding them in a secret location. I didn't review many, the things he did were... very dark." He tried to ignore the horrified look of his audience. Petunia hugged him tightly as he continued. "Part of the healing process involved me organizing my mind. It is how I discovered and destroyed his creation, and after the thing heavily damaged part of my mind it took me a while to fix everything."

His aunt had her face buried into his hair, but he still heard her. "Damage?"

Harry shrugged. "When I killed the thing, it exploded. I repaired what I could, and filled the rest of the hole with good emotions. Those have been healing the damage for the last couple of years."

Minerva felt out of her depth, but felt like she had to do something. "Harry, how well do you know so many things from our world if you never received our introductory information?"

He pointed at his head again, his other arm hugging his Aunt, trying to calm her. "I managed to salvage some of the raw world data, the stuff that was not important enough to be a memory. Terminology, some vocabulary, apparently a language or two that the dark bastard knew. I think I absorbed it during the accidental healing when I was young, before I learned how to heal myself."

Minerva sat back. She would tell Albus, hopefully he would not be having a moment. Right now though, she had to get Harry the basics of what he needed to know. "Mr. Potter, I will try to give you a more in-depth answer and question session later, but first we need to address immediate concerns. I believe that Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster for Hogwarts, is the reason you never received mail, why no one was willing to talk to you or your family."

She held up a hand as she saw his eyes flash dangerously. "Now one moment, he had a good reason. When You-Know-You died that night, his followers did not. I would not be surprised if they are still sending you poisons, explosive traps, or port keys in attempts to harm or capture you."

She sighed. "I do not believe you realize how valuable you have become to our society. At a time of great darkness, where the ministry was overworked and no one felt safe, a young boy managed to survive the Killing Curse. It is unblock-able by any known spell, and physical objects explode when hit by it. If it contacts a person, they die instantly, and it was heavily used by Voldemort and his followers even though a single use on a human would send you straight to prison."

Her eyes gazed into deep green shock. "Our world considers you something more than a hero. Children are told stories about the amazing things you do, and your parents are considered heroes just for having you. Needless to say, even well-wishers would have flooded you with mail that could contain anything, good or bad. Probably more than a few love potions from fans, I have no doubt."

Harry was stunned. That could be an issue. He had to have time to gain resources, time to get contacts... but he already had enemies that he didn't know, and a reputation to uphold that he had never heard of. He steadied himself, and his green eyes glowed slightly. He could handle adversity. He was Harry James Potter, and no random stranger would dictate his future.

He focused. "Thank you for the warning. It would be wise for me to be incognito when shopping probably, at least until I can verify who I can trust." He leaned forward and seemed to capture the Professors attention deeply. "Now, about these supplies."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had insisted Petunia wait behind on this first shopping trip, since he could protect himself but didn't know the area. If there were potential hostiles, he could not risk her... and Dudley would certainly be unable to come.

Looking at the tiny, grungy pub was making him feel silly though.

He looked up at the witch. "Professor, are you... are we at the right place? I honestly think we will get mugged if we go in that filth trap."

Minerva nodded. "Best idea, is it not Mr. Dursley?" She had mixed feelings about not using his real name, but both had agreed that yelling out 'COME KILL THE HERO' was a terrible idea. "If the 'Leaky Cauldron' is avoided, no need for any specialness, if you know what I mean."

He nodded. Why use magic if people actively avoid it on their own?

Harry shifted, feeling uncomfortable. He had asked Jim to restrain all his threads to help in the disguise, and it felt like someone was itching his arm just beyond his reach. He also couldn't see threads right now, although the Professor had pointed out that glowing green eyes was not exactly being subtle.

They entered the dark pub. Each table seemed slightly off, as if the balance had been carefully measured and then even more carefully ignored. The walls were a bit too close, and there were more than a few people drinking things and conversing in the dim room. Professor McGonagall pressed his shoulder, steering him toward a back exit, nodding to the few people who called out to her.

The exit led to a trashy courtyard, with smells best left unmentioned and a small trashcan enjoying itself in the corner.

Harry was not exactly over-awed. He grinned a bit and held his arms out, "BEHOLD! The world of magic!"

Minerva's lips may or may not have twitched, but she quickly took her wand and began tapping blocks on the brick wall. "I admit that it is not the most aesthetic entrance to Diagon Alley, but perhaps you will agree that appearances can be deceiving?"

His response was cut short as she finished the last press. The bricks were squirming, and then each one began smoothly folding into their neighbors, creating a quaint brick archway... but more important, showing him the magical shopping district.

Shops with glass windows stretched down the street, with wares both inside and stacked out for easy viewing. Cauldrons, strange animal parts, one store even had a broom in the window! Harry felt overwhelmed as he walked with the Professor down the street. "So where do we go first? I have no supplies at all, and I feel that there are likely things I can get that can really help me in my classes."

Minerva gestured down the street. "Gringotts, the bank. The Pot... your family is an old and respected wizarding family, and your accounts should be accessible to some extent as you are the Heir to the Potter Fortune, even if you are not of age to take full control of your accounts for now. That will have to wait till you are of age at 17."

She led him to a bright white building that seemed to stand securely over its neighbors. Strong bronze doors were held open and guarded by... well, Harry assumed they were goblins. Professor McGonagall had tried to give him a quick overview of wizard culture, and after having Jim and crew organize the data into his memories he had a pretty good handle on it.

The goblin guards were even shorter than Harry, and seemed crafty. The one closest had a pointed beard and seemed to be judging each person for danger. He caught Harry's eyes and gave a quick bow. Harry, caught off balance, bowed back, and followed the teacher before he could get in more trouble.

They were in a long marble hall with a long counters on both sides, with hundreds of goblins at stations helping many wizards. Even as they entered he could see the shine of gold being measured, with copper and silver glints as well. The Gems especially were beautiful to watch being handled... Harry wondered what it would be like to work with precious stones all day. Behind this symphony of action wizards and goblins entered and exited dozens of doors constantly.

They both got into a line and quickly made it to a counter. The Goblin behind it barely looked up before pulling a new binder of parchment close to him. Minerva took a breath and held her hand on Harry's shoulder. "Good Day, master clerk. We have business of a personal matter concerning an orphan who is soon to join Hogwarts and require privacy resolving any issues."

The Goblin looked harshly at Harry before closing the new binder. "Understood. One moment, I will have you brought to a private room. You do realize there is a five Galleon, six Sickle fee for the private room?" At the Professors nod, he turned. "Griphook!"

Griphook was wearing heavier leather clothing than the tellers, and quickly led the two into one of the side doors in the Hall. As they followed Harry could see that Griphook had a fairly long blade strapped to his back, with a worn metal studded handle with easy reach of his right hand... Goodness help whoever tried to rob this bank.

Eventually they were situated in a smaller chamber, rich woods covering the walls and a thick carpet under them. Griphook saluted the goblin sitting at the only Desk and silently left.

Harry was surprised by the size of this new goblin, who grinned a mouth of pointed teeth at them both. "Lady McGonagall, as requested I am your private clerk today, Nagnok. May I ask about the issues you stated to clerk Bogrod at the front desk?"

Minerva rested a calming hand on his shoulder. "Private Clerk Nagnok, my business today is to aid young Heir-Apparent Harry James Potter regain access to his vaults."

Harry watched the goblin jerk slightly, then focus sharply at him. "I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish Lady McGonagall, but this young man is not magical. From what our sensors have determined, he is a squib, unable to use his magic." He reached his hand into a drawer and several lights glared before he removed a piece of paper. "The only record we have of Harry James Potter was submitted by Lord James Potter upon the setup of his school vault, which clearly states he was a wizard at that time."

Harry raised his hand, causing the goblin to look up from his document. "Private Clerk Nagnok, I have been holding back my power to avoid people suspecting my identity. If it won't cause an issue, I can release the binds on my magic."

The goblin paused, placing the paper back on the desk. After some thought, he nodded. "Would you require use of a wand to accomplish this? I have not heard of such a binding, but I understand you have specific requirements for security reasons."

Harry shook his head, and told Jim to let the threads loose.

Minerva shivered as she felt the magic flow forth from the boy. She hadn't realized how far or how thick his power could be felt, it seemed to fade into the background when he wasn't hiding it. The goblin quickly began pressing shapes on his desk when suddenly the door slammed open and four armed guards marched in, weapons drawn.

Harry stayed seated, not moving, as a blade was held at him and a rapid conversation occurred between the unknown guards and Nagnok. Finally the guards pulled back the weapons, but lined up behind the two magic users.

Nagnok grinned even more widely as he turned to the older witch. "That was exciting, no? Apparently his natural field reached far enough into the corridor that he tripped the sensor there. They thought he had somehow apparated or port-keyed into the office, which of course would bet with... significant force."

Harry tried to stay calm, although the sudden entrance seemed to have tripled his heart rate. "Well... Well." He coughed. "What do I need to do prove that I am indeed Harry Potter? Not something that will create more such... excitement?"

Nagnok pressed a rune on his desk and said some words in a strange language to a goblin who looked in from a hidden wall section. Moments later, a black stone tablet and a sharp knife was placed on the desk.

Harry watched the knife carefully. "So... uh. It is a nice knife?"

Minerva seemed to have caught back up to the conversation and helped. "Mr. Potter, he will require a few drops of your blood on that heritage stone. The stone will compare your blood to blood patterns stored from all account owners, and compare them to determine any declared magical or inherited accounts." She saw his expression and quickly continued. "The knife is covered in carvings of runes, it cuts only enough to draw blood and heals the cut as it goes. It is an older version of what became blood-quills, and is used for the oldest rituals. It is perfectly safe."

His green, now glowing eyes still stared. "Well, you mean safe to make me bleed. Not safe in general." He turned to the goblin, who held his long fingered hand out. With a sigh, Harry gave his right hand out. He watched as the blade was carefully pressed against his right hand ring finger, and a series of red drops hit the black stone as he tried not to move or make noise.

Pain he could handle. Still, this was... unpleasant. He watched the blood soak into the black stone, and suddenly his finger felt warm. Nagnok released his hand, and Harry felt his finger healing even as the knife pulled away. Apparently it had a healing carving on it somewhere... rune? Would have to look up runes.

Nagnok looked at the stone and pressed it into a drawer, before pulling another sheet of paper and reading it. He looked up. "A pleasure to meet you at last Lord Potter. I am afraid your account manager passed on three years ago, and it has currently been held without an active guide due to us being unable to contact you or your guardians."

Harry sighed. "We think my mail had been blocked to prevent abduction and murder attempts. What would I have to do to assign an account manager to the Potter Accounts?"

Nagnok looked at some more parchments that appeared in the drawer before looking Harry in the eyes. "My clan historically took care of both the Peverell accounts and the Potter accounts over the years. You can approve either myself, one of my clan, or any other Goblin you wish at this establishment if you have found some fault in our service."

Harry tilted his head. "The Peverell accounts?"

He nodded. "The Peverell family became the Gaunt family, which became the Potter line." He leaned back slightly. "My ancestor was the account manager for the Gaunt family for most of his life. It was a sad day when they passed."

The boy thought. "Private Clerk Nagnok, would you be willing to become the Potter Family Account Manager?"

A bright, sharp smile crossed the goblins face. "I would be honored, Lord Potter. As I understand you have an afternoon of shopping planed, we will get you your new keys created before you leave today and a full report of your holdings will be made, reviewed, and I will send you a list of options to your address. With your blood on file, we should have no issues contacting you from now on, mail-block or not."

Harry smiled, and stood, shaking Nagnok's hand. "I am sure you will not let me down sir. Now, what do I need to do to access my school funds? Is there a way to access the money without visiting every day or so?"

Before speaking, he turned to the teacher. "Professor, we thank you for finding our missing Lord, but as you are aware family business must be handled in secrecy."

Minerva stood, nodding. "Of course Private Clerk Nagnok. Mr. Potter, if you have questions that you need to ask me I will be outside the door." She looked toward the goblin who nodded. Turning back, she continued. "We wizards trust the Goblins with our money, our most precious objects, and in some cases with our lives. Treat them as the equals they are and they will never lead you in a direction without profit."

Nagnok bowed deeply to Minerva as she exited, and was already pressing carved runes on his desk, each glowing for a moment as he looked up. "Lord Potter, your vault key is tied to your blood, so you can use it at any shop that accepts Gringotts currency, which is the majority of Europe and part of America. We also can exchange funds into other currencies as required for a fee."

He held out a hand toward the wall and a section of the wall opened. A long clawed hand reached through, placing what appeared to be a metal business card into his palm. "This is one our newer model keys, designed to not be too conspicuous if seen by non-magicals. If you lose this, you can replace it for a nominal fee, but no one else can use it unless you authorize them here at the bank."

The goblin grinned a bit blood thirsty. "By default we tied this key directly to your personal vault, as you do not have access to your family funds yet. I would still suggest getting some change for vendors who have not invested in the key system, such as street vendors or the knight bus."

Harry was about to get up when he looked at the card again. "If people don't use their key, how do they hold onto the money? Those coins have to get heavy."

Nagnok pulled out a black wallet. Pressing it into a drawer, he pulled it out to display a fancy crest with a P in it. "If you are willing to part with a couple of Galleons, we provide these wallets. Some of the older wizards feel it is not as traditional as a bottomless coin sack, but the younger ones love having something more discrete to hide their wizard coin."

Harry looked carefully at the wallet, and looked into a thin slit along the middle... it felt odd. Turning his sight on completely, he didn't hear the gasp from Nagnok or hear the murmuring behind him. This wallet looked fairly normal, but it had a red structure woven into it, red threads that looked similar to the red network on his house. But that one slit seemed shaped like a vortex, like each of the threads were twisted into a tight tube.

He pushed a finger in the pocket and felt with a green thread... inside it spun in the other direction. The contrast was what caused the odd feeling, two twisting tubes that turned in opposite directions but connect at the opening.

The inside was also very deep. WAY too deep for the wallet.

He looked up, not quite noticing the stunned expression on Nagnok's face. "I can feel how it is bigger on the inside, but how would you get the money back out? It seems like the space inside is twisted far too large. I am not sure it would even fall out if I tried to dump it on the floor."

At this point he noticed that the goblins were staring at him strangely. "What?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Private Clerk Nagnok was having another interesting day. Well, now it was Potter Family Manager Nagnok, but still an interesting day. The profit he was going to build from the accounts seemed unimportant, for his customer may actually have Mage Sight.

He watched the young wizard look at the guards in confusion. When Harry's eyes faced forward again, Nagnok could see them... each eye had small black pupils, surrounded by a huge green iris that seemed filled with white threads, twisting around each other.

"Lord Potter, do... can you see things when your eyes are like that?"

Harry sighed. "First, please call me Harry. Feel like I am in a play with all the Lord stuff. As for my eyes, I can see the threads all the time. I just have to focus like this when doing real detailed stuff."

Threads? Nagnok thought carefully and then pulled the black blood stone back to the desk. "Tell me Lor... Harry. What do you see when you look at this stone?"

Harry leaned forward, not noticing the guards leaning in as well. He reached a hand forward, and it glowed softly green while his eyes seemed to shine like lights. The white threads spun inside them, while his finger traced the stone. "This is a very dark red thread network. It has four connections, in those directions." He pointed toward the blood pattern data repository AND the backup, followed by the fake main office and the REAL center of command. "The pattern seems to pull the liquid into a straight line, then decompose it while sending information along the lines. I am not sure what this part does." He pointed to three places on it. "It also seems that parts of the red network is fading. Here and here it is almost snapped."

Nagnok grinned. "L... Harry, I believe you have a gift. A very valuable and profitable one." He pointed at the stone. "That stone has many parts that are designed to prevent people from knowing what it does, who made it, where the parts came from, and where the data is sent. Yet you can apparently see the raw magic itself." His grin was downright bloody. "I believe you have what is called Mage Sight."

Harry seemed slightly confused, but mostly resigned. "So does this mean I am not a wizard? I was worried, since none of the other wizards do things like I do."

Nagnok waved a claw. "Of course you are a wizard. But unlike all the rest, you can actually see, feel, some say taste and smell the magic itself." He leaned forward. "Gringotts will be contacting you soon I have no doubt. You will never lack for employment, if you desire it, because you will be able to SEE the flaws in our security and help us fix them."

The boy smirked. "For a hefty salary, right?"

A matching smirk was returned. "Of course. We wouldn't want future Potters to starve, would we?"

They talked a bit more before Griphook was called to help Harry get pocket change from his trust vault.

Apparently he could get quite a better Summer job than mowing yards this year.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Minerva was trying very hard to not tap her foot. It had been almost three hours. Thankfully a helpful passing goblin had provided a chair and some snacks (Only a few knuts... sigh). Trustworthy? Of course, but sometimes goblins came off a little stingy.

She stood as she heard young Harry finally returning. "Have everything handled?"

He smiled. "Yes, and I think I may have gotten myself a summer job." He smiled larger at her expression. "Apparently wizards with Mage sight are rare."

The teacher was stunned, but tried to focus on current tasks. It was hard to not be off balance when around Mr. Potter, and she was starting to be worried about the upcoming year. "Yes, I should say so. However it is getting late, and we have shopping to do."

Harry seemed to brighten even more, if possible and began heading to the exit. "Yes! First thing first, I need things to hold things in! To the luggage shop!"

Professor McGonagall shook her head as she followed. Forget Mage Sight, this may be the first child NOT running to get his wand first she had ever seen.


	14. Trunks and Wands

Harry was feeling giddy. He had talked to Nagnok about what he had wanted and needed, and after some discussion both agreed storage was a big one. He had thought to use some of the gold Galleons as a source of material before the goblin had set him straight... apparently the coins were actually stone disks with runes on them making them appear to be the right weight, size, color and texture. It was part of the anti-theft measures built into the coins, as the value of gold fluctuated and no one wanted counterfeiting in such a small community as the hidden wizarding world.

Still, raw gold and other materials were available for the right price, if Harry had safe places to work with them.

He felt hot and sweaty now that his threads were bound again. He was looking forward to being a lot less restrained when school started, as all this hidden cloak-and-dagger stuff was not nearly as entertaining as he had hoped. Well, except for the goblin attack force part. That had been awesome.

Trunks could apparently do something similar to his wallet coin slot, and Nagnok had shown how to use both his new card and wallet to retrieve funds. Apparently there was a secondary enchantment on the Potter crest on the wallet that would send a thread of magic into the expanded space and fish out the amount you requested... although Harry felt it was easier to just use his own threads. The coins felt much different to the magic, each stone shape obvious against the green threads that inventoried his pocket money.

But Trunk space could be huge. There were even stories about houses being installed in trunks, like they did with expanded wizard tents. And if he had to buy a cauldron of all things, he was going to need space.

He stopped outside of the perfect shop... "Trunks & Trunks: Trunks of Trunks". He had seen it on the way over to Gringotts and had been planning on checking it out just for the name alone. With a name like T&TToT, how could it NOT be awesome?

The door opened to a bright room, with a large wood counter and the left and right walls covered in trunks on shelves. Tall ones that looked like closets, flat ones that reminded Harry of pizza boxes, even some shaped like a ball. In a corner near the door was a small stack of trunks under a sign, "Hogwarts Special".

His review of the shop was interrupted. "Welcome to Trunks of Trunks! I am Sarah Trunks, how may I help you today?" The young woman behind the counter wiped some sweat from her forehead as she finished stacking some stock from the back.

Harry chuckled. "I am surprisingly enough in the market for a Trunk!" He ignored the standard looking Hogwarts one near the door and leaned on the counter. "However, I have both the funds and the needs for something special."

She reached into a drawer and pulled a list onto the counter, turning it to face him. She smiled, "Special we can do!" She hesitated slightly, focusing on his small size. "What kind of budget are we working with on this project?"

He nodded. It was a reaction he had grown used to since he had adjusted his height to match Dudley back when he was 8 and entered his school, and he had not really bothered to grow since then. Harry made a mental note to ask the professor how tall students should be at 11 in Hogwarts.

Harry pulled out the Gringotts key. "This is my first purchase for my future career, and I aim to buy a trunk that will stay with me for years, possibly even pass on to my children."

Sarah's eyes widened before she smiled and pulled out a longer list. "Ah, I understand. Not many new students invest in a good trunk when starting school, but I think you will be pleased at the options we provide." She leaned back and opened a door in the back wall. "John, I have a special out here who may need a rush order. Do we have any backlog?"

A rich voice echoed, "No dear, finished my last custom yesterday. I was just replacing some of the recent sells."

She nodded and turned back to Harry. "So there are a few things to keep in mind with Trunks... Well, honestly with any enchanted object." She pulled a display toward them from the edge of the counter. "As you can see, we have many woods and a couple of stones we build the trunks out of. Each one has different properties. Wood with certain types of grain or densities are harder to carve runes correctly into them, and other woods like Mahogany are more durable when finished but have latent magical properties that slow construction and raise the cost. The heaviest materials, like quartz or marble, can hold the strongest enchantments but are heavily resistant to some runes like the popular resizing and featherweight runes."

He looked at the samples of wood and the few of stone. "I assume the stone trunks are required for the houses I heard about?"

Sarah nodded. "The number of runes needed for preventing outside influence on multiple rooms, the ones needed for safety and durability... stone works best." She grinned, "But if you want my opinion you should try White Oak or Red Oak for the body of the trunk. It can't expand the most inside, but it is heavily durable, can hold a resizing rune very well, and that species work the best with our modified featherweight runes." She leaned in a little. "The default featherweight runes do not adjust for weight, so an empty trunk is still lighter than one full of rocks. Ours tries to adjust so it always stays around the same amount. Oak can get down to a few ounces at best, although I wouldn't suggest going to that extreme since we would run out of space for the other features."

Harry tapped the White Oak. He liked the shade of the wood and the grain pattern, and the idea of low weight also appealed to him. "Show me what we could do with the White Oak."

~~~Core Threads~~~

It had taken some time, but they had determined the features he wanted. Resizing and featherweight runes, fire/rot/water protection, and most importantly to Harry a strong password lock. He knew it wouldn't be able to resist a dedicated adult wizard, but it should easily handle other kids and so forth from getting curious. He also suspected that his password would be safe, since he could use words and phrases from so many languages now.

It had taken thirty minutes since they had a trunk in storage that was close to what he needed, and he had the Potter crest added to the top in memory of his family. It felt special to make it a POTTER trunk, instead of Harry's trunk. Thankfully neither Sarah nor John had made a huge deal out of who their customer had turned out to be, although he did catch them glancing at his smooth forehead as if the scar would reappear.

Sarah had been fun to talk to while John worked in the back. Harry had asked about other methods of storage and she had told him about bottomless pouches, ones that acted like his wallet pocket but had much larger storage and could warp objects to better fit into the bag.

Apparently they sold bookcase trunks as well, and when he mentioned purchasing one she had told him about her own guilty purchase, the master book.

A master book was made from enchanted metal wrapped in dragon leather, and was apparently massively expensive, using gems and gold under the cover as part of the ruining system. However, for those that were willing to pay a good amount it was an interesting trade of convenience. If you pressed the spine of the master book against a book you owned, it would create some sort of magical link between the two. Obviously the copy protection charms forced the master book to only work on books that were modified. To connect the master book to your purchase, you had to sign your name on the inside cover and place a drop of blood on the signature.

But there-after, the master book would contain a search-able list of all the linked books, and used modified paper creation runes to display the full text on conjured paper, as if the book was inside the metal cover.

Sarah confessed that many of those wealthy enough to afford the master book felt the high cost and inconvenience of the linking process made it a bad purchase, but she felt having her library in her hand was MORE than worth the few hours of setup.

Harry had immediately added two bookcase trunks to his purchase. To any book lover, this sounded way more important than trivial things like portable houses and such, and even with his mental library he loved reading. Apparently the book could be purchased at Flourish & Blotts, one of the larger book stores in the alley.

At some point Professor McGonagall had tuned out of the conversation. She had initially protested the cost of Harry's purchases, but he had argued fairly well about how useful each item would be and how it was all education focused... and she honestly had a hard time arguing with the child, he looked so much like James.

Their conversation was interrupted by John who moved the large trunk onto the counter. The wood was shiny, and he opened the lid for Harry. "As you can see lad, there is a sturdy ladder to get down in there. I managed to get you around seven feet cubed space, and took the liberty of installing a set of closets, shelves, and a couple of drawers. Since you paid for the rush job I also threw in a potion ingredient cabinet as well. I know you won't need it yet, but family trunks should have a few interesting extras, right?"

Harry smiled at the couple as he placed his Gringotts Key on a black stone they provided. "Thank you John, Sarah. You have both helped me above and beyond what I expected." He pressed his thumb against the "G" on the card, and felt the slight sting as blood was pulled and the black stone gained a green edge. He paused. "I don't suppose you have an order catalog? I can easily see me needing storage trunks, ones maximized for safety, maybe more bookcase ones."

Sarah grinned as she handed him a pamphlet. "Careful there, cutie. Keep spending like that and we may not let ya go."

John laughed at Harry's blush, and held out a hand. "Ignore the missus young man, and it was a pleasure to help out the boy-who-lived. Feel free to owl us anytime, even if it isn't an order."

Harry shook hands and then pressed his hand on the Potter Crest. A quick "Shrink" command later and he was holding a small flat box. Apparently the command didn't keep the original Trunks proportions, which he was grateful for. His other two bookcase trunks were already inside the Family trunk, and he felt Professor McGonagall was reaching the limit of her patience.

~~~Core Threads~~~

The pair had a much FASTER shopping trip to "Magical Nick's Knacks" where he picked up two bottomless pouches (He had chosen two of the more expensive ones, which were apparently made from "Acromantula Silk", which was some sort of huge spider with semi-magical thread. They had a dragon leather rim with runes that would partially shrink items that the user pushed into it and that would automatically tag each item for easy retrieval. They could even generate a list of what it held, although Harry didn't really need it. His memory was pretty good after all.

They stopped by "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions", where he picked up a hat and some robes and the required winter cloak and protection gloves. Ms. Malkin was pretty busy, but her assistant had answered several of his questions and had even sold Harry some raw cloth and such. Apparently it wasn't that uncommon for some families to purchase cloth for patches or whatnot, although the amount he had purchased had raised an eyebrow.

When Harry had found out what the gloves were to be used to protect against (Some potions ingredients and much Herbology greenhouse work), he had asked about eye and ear protection. The teacher sighed and explained that ideally all the protective gear would be provided, but the cutting of funds required students to get their own gloves since dragon skin and leather was so costly. He nodded and made a mental note to determine if he could donate the supplies later... Heck, maybe they had something similar to "Tax Deductible Donations".

Unfortunately Professor McGonagall was an observant woman, for she had scheduled their trip to Flourish & Blott's as the last stop, and none of his pouting... uh, his careful and logical arguments, had managed to convince her otherwise.

He had stored all of his purchases inside one of his bottomless pouches, which he had tied to his jeans with only a small amount of quiet thread work. He had been a BIT nervous about putting one bottomless pouch in another, but nothing had happened. The trunks went in quickly after, as he was concerned people would notice the crest.

Harry sighed slightly. The cauldron still seemed silly to him, but he decided to not make an issue out of it. The telescope on the other hand had been fascinating. According to the clerk, while the telescopes were weaker than muggle alternatives there were some stars and signs that were only visible due to how they interfered with the magical fields in space. Without specially designed tools, it just seemed like empty space to muggle options.

His pouch now held the brass scales needed and a large selection of both glass and crystal phials, along with large amounts of parchment and quills. He hadn't liked the idea of constantly refilling supplies when he had space and money to handle the issue now. There had been a short argument about the USE of quills, since pens were much simpler to use and keep clean, but apparently the quills had a tiny magical core and acted like very weak wands, allowing the professors to verify who worked on each assignment by checking the magical signature of the ink. Still, he had managed to argue her into allowing him to use pens for personal notes, as long as the final version was quilled before turning them in.

Now however, he was to get a wand.

There was a faded sign marking "Ollivanders", declaring wand creation from 382b.c. The stick in the window certainly looked wandish, so that was good he guessed.

As McGonagall headed off for what she called a "Surprise", Harry started to enter the shop but had to stand aside as some child with bushy brown hair almost bumped into him.

She had seemed overjoyed but now was apparently embarrassed. "OH, sorry sorry, didn't see you sorry!"

Harry chuckled and handed her the book she had dropped. "Don't worry about it. I assume you just picked up your wand?"

It was like he had turned on the sun, she smiled so big. "IT WAS AMAZING! I was so worried none of the wands would choose me and all this would end up being a mistake and I wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts, but it was taking so long and I went through so many but FINNALLY one felt right and warm and stuff and sparks went everywhere but I hope the shop is ok because I think I burned part of it and..."

He laughed and held his hand up. "Slower, breath, peace." He grinned at her second awkward blush. "I am about to try and get a wand as well, but I am glad everything turned out ok with you. Have a good day, miss."

She smiled back and nodded, following her apparently amused mother as he entered the shop.

'Quack.'

He turned quickly, seeing an old man. He thanked Jim quietly as the elderly gentleman grinned with wide moon-like eyes. "Good afternoon, Harry Potter." It wasn't a question, but it also wasn't a threat. Harry forced himself to calm down as the older man walked closer to the counter of his store.

"I see you inherited your mother's eyes, if not a bit more." He seemed to fade back into his own memories. "Ah, when she first bought her wand, her eyes sparkled so. It took twelve tries, and she had bonded with a ten and a quarter inch wand. Long, swishy, willow." He grinned as he continued. "Your father though took over forty tries. He was quite annoyed by the time he had found his eleven inch, pliable, mahogany wand."

Harry gave a small smile. "I wonder what happened to the wands, after their death."

Ollivander sighed and turned to the counter, picking up a tape measure covered in silver markings. "I believe the wands were placed in the Potter Family Vaults, as is custom. Sadly, I also sold the wand that caused all that tragedy, the one belonging to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He did such terrible things with one of my darlings. Things of great magnitude, but terrible in nature."

The old man sighed, and visibly refocused himself. "Every wand I craft uses a core of a powerful magical substance. We tend to use freely given unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings. No two of our wands are quite the same, just as each animal and tree is not the same. You will also never get the such good results with someone else's wand, as the user and wand grow together." He grinned. "Now Mr. Potter, let us find your personal wand. Which is your dominant arm?"

Harry wiped an eye that was NOT moist. "My right. I would also like to ask questions about how wands work, if you have time."

Harry watched as the man measured Harry from shoulder to finger, wrist to nose, knuckle to ear, and other absurd things. The man noticed Harry's raised eyebrow, and he grinned back. "Keeps the kids quiet as we begin testing the wands. Some get quite anxious as the process goes on." He pulled forth a box. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. VERY whippy."

Harry held the wand and felt it reach into his core in several places. Allowing it to connect, he felt several threads being pulled down his arm and coiled into a rope that was pulled into the wand itself. The inside of the wand felt twisted, as if the center was actually a series of rune in three dimensions that magic flowed through. As the connection reached the tip, a wave of sparks flew from the end.

Ollivander's eyebrows shot way up. "An instant connection!? That has never happened in my personal career. It seems perfectly matched as well."

Harry shook his head. "Actually, I think something else is happening. Could I try another wand?"

The old man seemed set back. "Another wand? But this one has one of the best connections I have ever seen! The wand choses the wizard young man."

The boy shrugged. "Please humor me. I think it is important."

With hardly a grunt, the man placed the maple wand carefully back in the box and picked up another. "Here then. Ebony and unicorn hair..."

His face went slack as he watched the young boy give the wand a swish and again, brilliant sparks flew from the end.

Harry nodded. "I could feel it trying to connect with me like the last one, but this time in different places. Since I have such control on my magic, I can enable either wand access to my magical core as it attempts to connect."

Ollivander seemed stunned. Harry grinned at him. "So, since I can probably use any wand in the shop, how about we try for something interesting? What is the smallest wand you have?"

The old man's eyes seemed to glow white for a moment, before he began to grin. "Smallest? I have been making wands for years that I have wanted to see wizards to use." He dashed to the back of the shop, where he had placed wands he had created back as an apprentice. He remembered how optimistic he had been back then, when he had made all kinds of interesting and bizarre wands before he realized wizards would rather use something normal looking with a bad connection than a well matched wand that looked strange.

He placed an ancient case on the counter, and lifted the lid. "Harry, in my youth I had made many wands that no one was willing to try because they were not considered 'normal'. Would any of these appeal to you?"

Harry's eyes literally began to glow as he beheld the beauties in front of him. Wands with multiple woods, wands that were curved or even had a branch in them, even some that were carved with strange gems in them. He picked up a wand shaped as a perfect circle, like a ring. The connection felt odd, like a series of loops that wrapped around his core before connecting, and the sparks flew around the rim like fireworks.

Placing it down he saw one that had three tips and one handle. As he lifted it each tip shot a different spark, and he could feel it making multiple connections into his core.

Ollivander was acting like his birthday had accidentally bumped into Christmas and decided to have tea. Some of the wands Harry was playing with even HE hadn't been sure would be usable, but each one gave the perfect connection signal as the boy swished them. He grinned as he reached into one of the top sections of the display, and handed the boy the one he had in mind.

Harry looked up from a wand made of stone and saw what was in the old mans hand. The wand was of some type of wood, but most of it was bound in dragon leather. Only an inch of it was exposed. Harry lifted it, and felt a MASSIVE amount of connections feeding into it. "Wha... What core is in this one?"

The old man chuckled. "That one is what I called the Dragon Scalpel. The hilt is dragon leather from one of the oldest Hungarian Horntails my grandfather knew, and it contains two dragon heartstrings. One from the father dragon, when he died of old age, and the other from one of the youngest Horntails that had passed in my time." His eyes misted a little. "I was heavily into symbols at the time, and I spent years on this wand. The Ash tree wood came from the preserve where the Horntail lived, and after some haggling I managed to even get some of the young dragons blood to help with the internal runes."

He sighed. "I made it in rebellion from father, really. We had an argument that two or more cores was not possible, and I thought using the same species would prevent many of the issues. We were both right in the end." He pointed at the handle "It had to be extra thick to handle the internal carvings, and I had to use dragon leather to keep it from possibly dissolving the outside when under heavy use." He pointed at the inch tip. "As you can see, the extra protections and such required for the wand to be stable drastically reduced the length it could safely be. Also, the larger connection to the wizards core caused massive misfires if it was a bad match, and almost destroyed part of the wall during testing."

Harry looked carefully as he moved the wand. The two cores felt like it was weaving his ropes together. "I ran into something like this on my own. Did the misfire create... well, fire?"

The man nodded. "I assumed it was a side effect of using so many dragon related components. This wand was part of the reason why I stopped experimenting."

Harry shook his head. "From what I can feel, the core is wrapped in a spiral. As the magic is pushed through, it wraps as well. I found that if you do that with raw magic it creates a sort of flame as a byproduct."

Ollivander thought about this. Sighing, he seemed sad. "I suppose that means this one can't be used then. Any heavy magic would just come out as a flame."

Harry shook his head. "I think I could be the only one who COULD use it. I can control how the magic connects to me, so I can enable only one core or the other. Anyone else would just create fire all the time." He grinned. "Heck, it is like an overly destructive security system. How much for it?"

The old man pointed at the boxes of wands still on the counter. "The standard design is actually subsidized by Hogwarts, the Ministry, and private donations. It is why wands are so cheap despite the cost of parts. That wand would probably work out to around 400 Galleons or so."

The boy grinned. "Sounds like money well spent, no?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Minerva cast a quiet tempus to see the time. It had taken longer than expected in "Eeylops Owl Emporium" before she found the perfect owl, a beauty of a snow white thing. She had vague memories of leaving the boy on a doorstep for goodness sake, and even if she couldn't go back and fix the past she could at least give him a good birthday gift.

As she reached Ollivander's she saw him standing out front holding something scaly. He quickly looked up and stared in shock at the beautiful owl.

Harry felt his magic reaching out in ropes almost without thought as he stared into the jewel-bright eyes of an amazing white color. As his threads touched her, he could feel her rich earth threads wrapping into and through his bright green ones.

It wasn't words, but emotions. She was scared to be in a new place, but she was so happy to be out of the noisy crowded place. This woman had brought her here.

The Professor saw Harry's expression and had to hide a smile. "Mr. Potter, as I and many of your family's friends have been unable to celebrate your birthday, I would like to give you a gift." She gently handed the cage to the young boy. "As I am sure you read in the letter, you are allowed an owl at school. It will also help you stay in contact with the magical world."

Harry couldn't focus, but mumbled a thanks to his soon-to-be teacher. "Hello beautiful, my name is Harry Potter. Would you like to be my friend?"

He felt something tug on his threads, and the emotions became MUCH stronger. As he watched the rich brown of his new companion became streaked with his green, the connection fading into strands of a much lighter brown. He felt her joy at making this connection, as if she had found home. He grinned as she nibbled his finger from inside the cage.

Professor McGonagall checked the time again to the fascination of Harry. Catching his gaze, she held up a finger. "Now remember, underage wand use is forbidden when you are not at school. You will be doing all kinds of spells and such soon enough. However time runs short, and we need to pick up your books."

The discussion on the way to the book store was both enlightening and frustrating. Apparently legislation had passed requiring all wands have tracking spells added that reported spell usage, magical signature, and if possible the target. All of that was fine... except the part where it reported all these events to the Ministry, who would send warnings, fines, or even expulsions if the spells were from underage wizards or witches. Apparently someone had decided it was easier to force all below 17 to not use magic rather than teach them to do it in private.

Needless to say, Harry now had a project to focus on. If he could see magical connections, maybe he could block them and get some REAL practice in during the summers. He would be caught of course if anyone checked his wand locally, but he only really cared about the remote logging of his actions.

Not that he would abuse unlimited, unwatched magic. Heavens no.


	15. Books and a Friend

Harry had found heaven.

Apparently it was located between an Ice Cream parlor and an abandoned shop that used to sale magic carpets, but it was clearly heaven.

It was also named "Flourish & Blotts".

BOOKS.

He had been so surprised that he had almost dropped his new friend (They had decided on the name Hedwig. Harry had tried "Danger Owl" but had been bitten for what they both agreed were perfectly reasonable reasons and yes he would buy more owl treats and yes he was sorry.)

Harry regained his calm, gently placed Hedwig's cage on the counter, and tried to keep his eyes of the shelves and shelves of awesomeness.

He turned to a young saleswoman who seemed amused by his near accident at the door. "Excuse me, could I leave my owl here while shopping?"

The lady nodded. "Of course dear! In fact you may want to borrow one of our shopping bags if you are getting school books." She handed one over, and he could feel the larger inside along with some sort of featherweight at work.

Before he got too distracted, he tried to focus directly on her. "I am sorry, I didn't catch your name. I am Harry."

She giggled. New students were adorable, and this one was so polite! Like a little man. "Well Harry, my name is Sally Blotts. My great grandfather started this bookshop. Is there something in particular you are looking for?"

Harry nodded and pulled out his wallet. "I heard that you sell something called a Master Book."

Sally blinked. "Well... uh. Yes, but they tend to be quite expensive." She waved her hand at a display behind the counter, where three books lay on purple silk pillows. "I have only sold a few in years. You do know what they do, correct?"

He nodded, and showed her his Gringott's Key. As had happened in a few previous stores, she looked surprised by the color. Apparently Nagnok had set him up with something special. "Ah, I see. Well, we have two models right now. The standard one as you know allows access to all the books you currently own, and be able to search them for content, author, publisher, or whatever. We do have a more advanced one however." She still seemed hesitant to go into details.

Harry grinned and leaned forward. "Do go on, I was sold before I even entered here."

She giggled and seemed to relax. "Well, the advanced one is a bit heavier and a lot more expensive, but it allows you to add blank journals to your library and write into them directly from the Master Book." She picked up a random black book. "Just bind a blank book the way you would any other, and include a title directly above your signature. You can then access it, with you marked as author. You can have journals for your notes for example, and if you pick one of the everlasting journals that generate new pages as you reach the end, you would only need one per subject."

He was almost drooling. "You are far too talented to work in a book shop. Is there a discount if I buy blanks in bulk?"

Sally tilted her head. "Hmm. Sure, I don't see why not. If you are buying that much, you would certainly be one of our special customers. How about 10% off if you buy over 30?"

He grinned. "Add 60 to my list then. Do you have an Owl order service like some of the other shops?"

She was still stunned at the previous number, but quickly rallied. If he liked the master book, then he would probably want this as well. "We do of course, but that can be a bit annoying if you tend to buy books often." She handed him a slim, red volume. "This is our Publish List. It has a listing of all items we currently posses, as well as books we plan to own in the future. Each book has a summary of content and we link to reviews about the quality as well." She pressed on the title of a book and a new page appeared behind the current one listing detailed information along with reviews.

Harry had stars in his eyes. "SOLD. Now give me that shopping bag so I can make myself a poor person."

Minerva didn't even try. She knew exactly what Lily had been like, and if she had bumped into these things... well, reading ran in the family. She frowned slightly, thinking of a young boy with messy hair and too much self confidence. Well, reading ran in half of the family.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had almost winced when he had seen the cost of the master book plus the blanks. Thankfully he had a good idea of his spending limit for today and he still had some leeway. He may only be limited to his trust vault, but it was not a SMALL trust vault. Heaps of galleons had covered the floor.

Now he wandered the many shelves. Some shelves were MADE of books. Some were bound in silk, itsy bitsy, others seemed to growl at him as he passed them by. He had found the school books quickly enough, someone had been wise enough to group them near the front, but he wanted more.

He wandered as he tried to figure out the sorting method. From what he could tell, it was mostly by topic, unless the book looked too dangerous, or too large, or too small, or if it wouldn't stay still. He had found some leashed to a pole that kept fling around, diving their soft covers into the hair of passing children.

He had gone back to Sally a few times, asking advice. He told her he grew up with muggles, and she gave him some suggestions that he added to his basket, including "Hogwarts: A History" and "Common Spells for Home and Hearth", which she said her mother loved. He also picked up some books on topics he had seen or heard about, such as "Runes: A beginners Guide" and "Ward are you thinking about?", which was supposed to give the basics of ward design.

When he had seen the section of "Harry Potter" books, he almost had a heart attack. Needless to say, he moved on.

Harry had promised to Jim already to pick up some books on non-magical animals to go along with the magical "Beasts of the Wizarding Wilds" he had found earlier... or at least, he had promised after a very headache inducing argument and a quick verification with Sally that the master book could handle muggle novels.

As he tried to find history books about the Ministry of Magic, he heard quiet crying. Frowning, he turned the corner and saw the same brown haired girl from earlier, sitting on a huge book with her arms wrapped tightly around the novel he had picked up earlier.

He awkwardly moved forward. "Hey, are you ok?"

She gasped and tried to quickly wipe her eyes. "Ye... Yes, yes I am fine. I was just... I was looking for something and some dust got in my eyes."

Harry sat next to her, leaning against the wall. "Yeah, I saw there was a lot of dust back here. Someone should probably clean it up." He reached into his pouch with one of his ropes, and quickly made a handkerchief out of some of the spare cotton he had bought earlier. "Here, use this. I know how annoying it is to clean the dust out of your eyes and stuff."

She hesitantly accepted the cloth and used it. She glanced at the boy. "I... I really am fine you know."

He nodded. "I know you are. Just a lot of dust."

She wondered how old he was... he was shorter than her but seemed more mature some how. She gave a small smile. "Yeah, dust. Bad for books and all."

His grin was huge. "You wouldn't believe it. Wish I could just take em all, you know? I am actually getting close to my spending limit today, but there are SO MANY LEFT!"

She gave a slightly larger smile back. "Well... I mean, I have been looking forward to this place for a while. Lots of new things, you know? Mom says I can't buy too many though, cause we are running out of room in the house."

Harry held out his hand. "Well I can sympathize. My name is Harry. What's yours?"

She shook hands firmly. "Hermione, Hermione Granger. I am about to start Hogwarts, first in my family." She seemed to stop suddenly, as if she had accidentally let out some dark secret.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, this is my first year too. My parents went, but I didn't get to meet them. I am the first in my household to go to Hogwarts too."

Hermione's smile made him feel good. Her eyes got back some of the sparkle he had seen earlier in the day. "So have you read the books? This is my third trip to the Alley, but Mom wouldn't let me get a wand until now because she thought I would be too tempted to use it."

Harry shook his head. "I am getting all the books today, but it shouldn't take long. I found a trick where I can learn really quickly, overnight even. I figure it will take about a day per class book for me to memorize the contents."

Her eyes got huge. "REALLY!? Is it a spell? Maybe a potion? I heard there was some sort of head thing that Lady Ravenclaw made that gave you knowledge, or maybe it was a necklace, anyway I heard you could wear it and remember anything at all. Or was it a potion... one that was supposed to make you smart for a short while? I remember it got banned because of cheating in tests, or not..."

He laughed. "BREATH! Don't pass out on me, or I won't be able to answer anything!" He got up and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward one of the creepier shelves. Close to one book that seemed to be bleeding, he picked up a second copy of a book.

She held it and read the title. "Guarding the mind, the Skill of Occlumency."

Harry nodded. "It is part of mind magic, and is one of the few skills that no one can detect you practicing or using at home." He grinned at her sudden interest. "Basically you use a small amount of magic and a large amount of meditation to organize your mind. You gain lots of benefits." He began counting his fingers. "I can actually ADD things to my memory, I can recreate things I have seen, including books, and read them in my head. My world actually has a mindscape, so spending time there moves as fast as my thoughts, which is much faster than outside where I have to wait for my body to catch up. I can read and learn there and every second feels like hours."

He pulled her back to their impromptu bench, grinning at how hard she was hugging the book. "It gives me control over most of my memories, helped me handle traumas from my past, and it even helps me defend my mind from people who try to invade it, which is called 'Legilimency'."

She was almost moving automatically at this point, while her mind thought about all the benefits.

Harry smirked. "But do you know what the best part is?"

Hermione licked her dry lips. "Wh.. what?"

He pointed at his head. "You can read books and practice magic and stuff in your head while you sleep, and your body still gets rest in the real world."

At this point he was hugged by a brown haired missile, who almost instantly after ran to her mother to buy a book.

Harry sat still for a moment, before shaking his head and following.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Jean Granger had been searching for her daughter for a few minutes. She had thought she had heard someone insulting her, but by the time she had reached the spot there were some bond haired brat laughing with two dim looking boys wandering alone. Hearing her darling squealing over a book was a balm to her soul.

She turned and saw her angel running up with some dark covered thing. As she tried to interpret the "I am excited, let me buy this"-ese of her daughter, she noticed a young looking boy walking toward them from the same direction she had barreled from. She grinned at her baby. "So who is your young friend here?"

Hermione had frozen in a mixture of embarrassment and slight fear. She didn't want to make a worse impression on the boy, he had already seen her cry earlier.

Harry held out his hand. "My name is Harry. I assume that you are Mrs. Granger?" They shook hands as he smiled at the red faced girl. "I am afraid your daughter got a bit ahead of me after she found a book she was interested in."

Jean smiled at the lad. "No worries, I know how she is when it comes to a new book." She carefully ignored the "MOOOOM" from her baby. "In fact, we are having problems finding places to put them all."

Harry looked around, then leaned in. "Between you and me, you should probably take advantage of having a magical daughter. Have you stopped by the Trunk Shop?"

The older woman had a confused expression. "Yes, we stopped by there earlier. Tom had to keep moving things out the Leaky Cauldron to our car so we could get the shopping done."

Harry nodded. "Well, let me show you something." He handed her his bottomless pouch. "Reach in there and think about a quill."

Jean reached in... it felt WAY too big. As she thought about the quill she could feel a feather against her fingers. In wonder, she pulled it out.

He pointed. "That is a 'bottomless pouch', one of the more expensive ones, although I believe it is worth every galleon. It even shrinks things slightly if they are too big to fit inside." He took it back and held up what seemed to be a wooden book. "This is my trunk. I asked and got one that is resistant to most types of damage and is of course larger inside than out, but more importantly it has the ability to change size and be nearly weightless."

Harry grinned at the two stunned women. "Now, anyone want to guess what a bookcase trunk is?"

Jean hugged the boy, giving him another shock. "Oh Hermione, I like this one." She held him at arms length, and ignored her daughters fairly loud complaints. "Now, where is this place and how much are they?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Minerva was trying VERY hard not to get annoyed. Apparently Harry had FAR too much James in him. Just moments before she thought she was done, and now they were BACK WHERE THEY STARTED!

She sighed. At least he seemed to have picked up a friend.

Tom Granger was near ecstatic. Apparently moving crap all day had heavily convinced him of any plan that reduced the size and weight of moving his daughters stuff for the next seven years. Having more room in the house thanks to the bookcase trunks was a dream come true. He would never say a word against his darlings, but they were starting to have so many piles of books that moving around was dangerous.

Harry had helped Jean pick some low cost bookcase trunks, since they wouldn't be moved. She was a bit suspicious when we went and whispered to the store owner though. After that conversation, there had suddenly been a "Sale" for people who bought four expanding bookcase trunks, that just happened to automatically sort the books. The price was also suspiciously lower than she had expected.

Harry on the other hand was trying to be as innocent looking as possible, which was making her mom-dar blow off the charts.

Still, she couldn't prove anything, and not buying these awesome trunks was clearly NOT an option. She had tried to talk about it to Professor McGonagall, but she seemed fairly stressed right now.

Hermione was still playing with her new bottomless pouch. Harry had pointed out how much better they were than backpacks, and if it hadn't been so expensive the Grangers would have probably bought one for every family member. As it was Tom apparently had his eye on one for next year.

Jean listened in to her daughters conversation while she waited for Mr. Trunks to finish their order. Again, she was not quite sure, but she suspected that Harry had said something as it was taking a bit longer than expected.

Hermione had been distracted for a while now. Finally she looked at the green-eyed boy and gathered her courage. "So... what house are you going to be in? In Hogwarts I mean."

Harry leaned against the counter. They had talked about all kinds of stuff while the adults had shopped, and the general houses had been explained fairly early in the process. Apparently Hermione had really enjoyed her Hogwarts history book. "Well, I think it is pretty clear that we will both end up in Ravenclaw."

He saw her slightly disappointed face. "What's wrong Hermione?"

She shuffled her feet a little. "I read that all kinds of great witches and wizards came from Gryffindor. I wanted to be brave."

Harry snorted. At her expression, he explained, "I think you shouldn't expect things to be so cut and dry. No one is completely in one house. You work hard, so you have some Hufflepuff. You are clearly ambitious, so there is some Slytherin as well. I have no doubt you are brave, but what is the one thing that is important to you?" He pointed at the book in her hand with a grin on his face. "KNOWLEGE! THAT is what you live for. Heck, I mentioned a cool book and your eyes became stars!"

She blushed a bit. "But I want to have more friends. If... If I can be a Gryffindor, then maybe I will be brave enough to..."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you got one friend now, don't you? And you haven't even started yet! If you do end up in a different house, at least you will have a helpful Ravenclaw behind you to give a hand, right?"

He ignored how she seemed to tear up a bit. "Right! And we can learn all KINDS of stuff about magic!"

Harry nodded. "Frankly, I think I will probably be ignoring most of the school stuff anyway." He saw her look of horror, and quickly corrected the statement. "I mean, I will do the classes and work, but I want to spend most of my time in the library, finding new things out, trying out new spells. I mean, you have already memorized all your class books, right?"

Hermione hesitantly nodded.

He grinned. "Well, why waste time verifying that we already memorized it? I figure we use our free time to find new ideas, spells, and stuff. Come up with practical uses for the knowledge." She could see his eyes lighting up... were they actually glowing? "I want to find things out about magic that no one has ever known before. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

They were slightly startled by Professor McGonagall's chuckle. Somehow the children had forgotten the adults were in the room. "Well said, Harry. Though I will miss not having someone like you with my lions."

Harry grinned as he realized Hermione hadn't connected "Professor McGonagall" to "Gryffindor Head of House". He winked at the girl's expression. "Well there is a strong chance I may have to visit if Hermione is in your tower, Professor." His grin turned a bit sneaky. "I did hear however, that Ravenclaw tower had a private library?"

Minerva inwardly sighed. She had seen the girls eyes sparkle. Another one lost to the literary side. She couldn't risk having a library in the Lion Tower due to pranks, first from those Marauders and now from the Weasley twins.

As everyone separated to begin traveling home, Hermione and Harry exchanged information. He knew Aunt Petunia would love contact with other families who had experience with the magic thing, and Harry was honestly happy to have a friend who knew about his magical side. Friends in school had to be held at arms length or someone may discover something.

It helped that she was into books too.


	16. Growing Up and Cleaning the Brain

The quiet street of Privet Drive was suddenly less quiet as a harried looking woman, a worn but still excited boy, and a seriously freaking out owl appeared in front of house number 4.

Minerva had quite enough, thank you, never again. Well... at least, not for a year. The boy may look like James, but his energy was FAR too high.

Hedwig hated everything right now. Apparition sucked for birds. It was like flying backwards, underwater, while someone is flashing bright lights everywhere.

Harry wanted to do it again.

Despite this, the trio had managed to get back into the safety of the house. Petunia was trying not to be a bother, but she had been slightly nervous the entire time. If anything had happened, she wouldn't even be contacted, much less be able to help.

Harry gave her a hug when she opened the door. "Auntie, it was amazing! I made a new friend, I now have a goblin family account manager, and I got lots of cool stuff for school!" He pulled her into the living room while she followed, amused.

Minerva collapsed into a chair and tried to catch her breath.

Harry was in the middle of showing his new trunk to Petunia when Professor McGonagall finally stood. "Mr. Potter, it was quite an experience. I look forward to seeing you this year, and even if you don't feel like Gryffindor will be your house, I would love to see you for tea some time. I may even be able to get some pictures of your parents to go with the many stories I have from their infamous days."

Harry's eyes lit up as he nodded, before he paused. "Professor, I do have an odd question for you before you go."

She held back a sigh. If he had an ODD question, who knew what it could be. "Go ahead, Mr. Potter."

He steeped his fingers together. "How tall is the average 11 year male at Hogwarts?"

Well. He had said odd, after all. "I suppose around here or so?" She held her hand her hand around four and a half feet off the ground. "Some taller or shorter of course."

Harry nodded, "Of course. And if we need to contact you again, we can send Hedwig?" The owl hooted, nodding.

Minerva stared at the owl a bit. "Y.. Yes, Mr. Potter."

Harry grinned, "Well, thank you for all your help today! Especially with the goblins. Seemed a bit touch and go there for a bit."

The professor coughed and quickly started moving for the door. "Well, have a great evening the both of you." She had vanished before the front door had even closed, leaving Aunt Petunia with her mouth open before she turned and glared.

She tapped a foot. "Harry."

He innocently smiled up. "Yes?"

"Goblins?"

Harry began moving his stuff around. "And I decided that we may get some additional trunks, since they can be used by anyone."

Petunia held his hand from moving. "Back to the goblins, please."

He shrugged. "Turns out that unbinding my magic really freaked out their security in the bank."

She rubbed her eyes. "Were you ok? Nothing bad happened?"

He nodded. "They put their axes away quickly. We are friends now."

She took a deep breath. Just go with it. "Well good. Good. Now, get your stuff in your room and organized. Don't want your cousin hurting himself messing with it."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes Aunt Petunia." He waved a hand, all his books, parchments, trunks, and so forth moving into his room under the stairs. He left it in a pile near his desk, since he didn't want to mess with sorting stuff till later.

He paused on his way to the kitchen. "Aunt Petunia, do we still have that leftover steak? I need to be about 9 inches taller for school."

"Use the raw ground beef, I want the steak leftovers for Dudleykins when he gets home from his friends. Will you need one of the gallons of milk?"

Harry stared in the fridge. "Yeah, I think so. Probably the chicken too, since it has the skin on. Should have fat there."

"Well, brown the meat first. I hate the idea of you eating raw meat, no matter how you do it."

He nodded, even though she couldn't see him. He preferred seasoning it all anyway, just to stay in practice. He absently reached toward the fridge, which had various items move around as the ground beef and chicken floated out. The stove turned on and an onion began cutting itself using his threads as he got a large serving platter and put the milk jug on the table.

As soon as the meat started smelling fabulous, he dropped into his mind-scape. He walked toward the lake, nodding toward the ducks he passed. Without undressing, he began to walk into the golden liquid, enjoying the richness flow along his skin.

In the kitchen, his body began to glow a golden hue. Each limb began to stretch, his spine began to twist, and sharp cracks and squishes filled the room. As the glow faded, the small child was much taller, but seemed almost gaunt. His chin was sharp under his skin, his cheeks fell inward, his neck bones defined. A near skeletal hand lifted the entire platter close to the tight mouth. As his thin lips opened, multiple threads leaped from his throat and began dragging food inwards, much of it vanishing before it even reached his lips. As the platter cleared, his skin relaxed, his muscles expanded, and his body looked more and more fit.

With barely a conscious thought the milk jug was lifted to his lips, and threads again fled his mouth and began absorbing the fatty, calcium filled liquid.

Petunia shuddered as she walked into the kitchen. They had noticed Harry not getting taller with Dudley last year, and he had explained that he liked his height, so saw no reason to grow. It had been a strange conversation, but she never enjoyed listening to the sounds of him changing his shape or age.

Very creepy.

Still, she couldn't help but feel fascinated as she looked at his new form. Once again near her shoulder in height, he was easily four foot six. His muscles were defined again, his skin perfectly clear (of course), his hair still wild. It never seemed to stay down unless he manually held it down with his threads. His green eyes flashed toward her as his smile crossed his face.

"So how do I look?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Like an eleven year old. Now clean up the mess you made and get ready for bed. You had a busy day today and you need rest." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Double rest, since you changed your body so much."

He grumbled about not being tired as he went to his bedroom. He placed his master book on his side table, designed to look like a huge leaf next to his moss bed. Harry still needed time, ink, and blood to begin binding all his new texts to the master book.

His trunks opened as he began sorting all his new stuff. Clothing went into the family trunk, in the closet. The Family trunk also took all the potion ingredients in the special cabinet, thank goodness Mr. Trunk had added that. He moved one of the bookcase trunks inside, in the corner of the Family trunk. This would be his magical library, the other one would stay in his room and hold his non-magical stuff.

Harry let his threads continue moving things around and emptying his bottomless pouch. He had decided that the second one would be a gift, since he hadn't gotten anywhere close to filling his first one. He bet Aunt Petunia would love having something this handy for her every day stuff.

He smiled as he thought back to his first magical friend. She had such a spark, an interest in learning. He grinned as he remembered how much she had loved that book he had found. The Occlumency book was suggested by Nagnok, as Gringott's employees were HEAVILY encouraged to protect their mind from others. It was looking through the advanced section that had shown him how similar it was to his own mind-scape.

He had managed to invite Petunia into his world once, last summer. They had thought it would work since Harry had fallen into hers way back when. She had caused a bit of a disturbance when she tried to hug Jim, but he had managed to get her out before any biting occurred. Well, biting of her anyway.

Harry was pretty sure he could invite Hermione over as well, to show her how he had done his mind. Maybe she could do something similar in her own. He frowned slightly. He would need to double check the weather first, wouldn't want any awkward clouds showing up or what have you.

He fiddled with the master book. After a few minutes, he pulled a pen from his desk and one of his non-magical class books over. Signing the inside cover, he held his thumb over the signature and pierced his thumb using a thin green thread, watching as blood partially obscured the squiggly name.

Blowing both blood and ink dry, he pressed the spine of the master book against the spine of his math text. Both glowed with a faint blue light for a few seconds, then separated.

He lifted the master book. The outside was black, but had a scaled pattern that felt good in his hands. The font had gold letters stating "Potter Family Master Book", which the store had done by request. The look on the clerks face had been priceless.

As he opened it, he saw on the left hand side the results of the blood bonding. Part of the setup required him allowing the book to connect to his magical essence, so it would recognize his blood on any texts he tried to connect. It had basic information, such as the current number of connected texts (Marked as 1 right now), number of connected note journals (He had only set up 9, one for each class and one for personal research), and the number of approved users (Currently only his name was listed). The manual said he could add permanent users or guest access for people for a specified amount of time.

He touched the text on the left side. The entire page was a patterned metal, and the letters were engraved and stained with a black ink. It was easy to read since it didn't reflect his face and the letters really stood out. The other side had a list (Of one, at the moment), two runes that looked like fancy arrows at the bottom, and one rune at the top right that looked like an owl. Supposedly the owl was the search feature, but had nothing to really search for right now.

Harry gently pressed the only title listed on the right side. The entire line with the books name inverted, so the text was clean metal and the rest of the line was engraved black ink. He then closed the book and opened it again.

Now the book was full of pages. It only looked like around twenty sheets, but as he turned pages he noticed the oldest ones vanished and new ones appeared, so it was always 10 pages on either side. He pressed the page number, and said aloud 113. The pages quickly rifled past, and when they stilled he was right where he expected.

Closing the book reset it back to the book list. He frowned. This would make it very difficult to make notes while using the text. He opened the master book and pressed both the math book and his personal journal, so that both were highlighted. Harry tried to select a third one, but it caused his first selection to fade out... it seemed he could only choose two at once.

A quick reopening later and he smiled. The left side now had his text on it, while the right was blank pages. Both pages had the turning runes like the back cover had, so the use was obvious.

Harry pulled his other non-magical texts to him. Might as well get this stuff done tonight, since Petunia would blow a fuse if she saw him doing stuff when he was supposed to be 'recovering'.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was sucking his right thumb. That had taken a lot longer than he had expected. Apparently the number of books he had purchased had been pretty sizable, even if he hadn't time to read them all at the moment. The constant pricking of his thumb had gotten it pretty sore, and he decided to add new books at a slower pace in the future.

He setup the book next to his bed and waved his hands, turning off his desk lamp and the floor lamps in the corner of the room. After a few weeks Vernon had provided them so no one would 'suspect' anything if they came in. He and Harry had never connected the way Petunia had, but they had a strong "live and let Live" philosophy in play now. Vernon was simply uncomfortable with things like magic, so they spent time doing more usual things. Fishing, golfing, stuff like that.

His head leaned back into his pillow as he focused on the roof. Hedwig wanted easy access to the outside world, and Harry had an idea.

He focused his strongest cords into a spiral pattern, one similar to the pocket in his wallet and in his trunks and pouch. Each one had felt slightly different, but they had a common trait as well, the spiral tube.

Harry felt that the tube being bent inside out was how the bag was created. That would reverse the spin, allowing the strange feeling at the boundary. His current theory however, was a NON-reversed tube could be used for transport. He had already put his hand through the bag and felt around, and it didn't feel cold or airless. Just... odd.

He brought his largest, thickest cable of cords out of him that he could and pierced the house with it, connecting the ceiling to the outside air. He then pulled dozens of thick ropes and spun them like green snakes in a tight spiral along the cable. As they connected with the outside air, he carefully released control of the spiral of ropes, while pulling back the main cable.

It felt STRANGE. As the cable retracted, the spiral of ropes tried to collapse into itself, pressing firmly into the ropes around it. As the last of his power pulled from the center of the tube the robes almost seemed to creak... and suddenly it was now a solid tube. No seams, no edges.

Oh crap.

Harry cautiously felt the inside of the tube. It didn't FEEL dangerous, but nether did his flame arm until he almost burned a house down. He pulled some thread from his storage and made it into a cloth duck, gently releasing it into his end of the tube.

It vanished.

Double crap.

Reaching through the tube, he felt for it... nope, gone. Somewhere there was probably now a duck made of white wool. Great.

Harry took a deep breath. Freaking out was not a good idea. He glanced back at the tube. Well, maybe it WAS a great idea, but he didn't want to get in trouble.

He created a second duck cloth, and this time tagged it with one of his threads. He had learned to do this to find toys that Dudley had lost often, and could trace the thin connection of his magic almost any distance... well, any distance they had tested so far.

The duck was gently lifted to the... and it was gone.

Oh goodness, it was moving FAST.

Harry's eyebrows rose as he tracked the cloth duck being hurled like a bullet from a gun. The tube was NOT a good idea for owl transit, unless you wanted fast mail and a flat owl.

He frowned. Maybe if he slowed down things in the middle? He sent a single rope down the center of the tube, anchored it into the tube on both ends, then had it send out tiny threads all along its length. It looked like a green fuzzy pipe cleaner.

The third cloth duck was offered up as sacrifice... and it was slowly moving up. Harry grinned. Less threads would probably increase the speed. He cut the threads in half, watching the duck zip out the tube before pulling both threads so the ducks would come back.

The most recent one came back almost instantly. The other would... oh forget it. He cut the thread, leaving another cloth duck somewhere in the world. He didn't have TIME to wait that long. He tapped the inner rope of the tube, politely asking it to only allow owls to go through.

Disturbingly enough, he almost felt like it had nodded to him. Sheesh.

Hedwig was remarkably calm at this point. Well, after promising it was safe a few times and bribing her with bacon, she was calm. A few tests later confirmed it worked, although she explained it felt very odd, like having someone blow air up your tail feathers.

With that messed up mental image messing with him, Harry wrote a quick note to Hermione about possibly meeting up on the train to Hogwarts. He mentioned how he was sorting his books and stuff, and hoped she and her family had safely got home from their trip.

He wasn't sure how to address it until Hedwig nipped his ear. Under her direction, he wrote down her name and tied it to the owls leg, who took off through Harry's ceiling.

Sometimes magic makes life strange.

Harry relaxed and prepared to sort his internal library as well. He had only memorized his class texts, no reason to spoil all the fun stuff... but he needed to verify everything was stored correctly in his memory.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry stared. His purple library was a MESS. All kinds of knowledge was just piled all over. Information from Professor McGonagall was one huge pile, there was an absolutely MASSIVE pile of books and scrolls from Nagnok, piles from each store he had entered. He did pause when he saw a book about Hermione. He smiled slightly and created a green shelf in his library just for his friends. It vibrated with his magic, and he gently put his memories of her on the shelf, with lots of room for more.

The smile fell a bit looking at the massive piles though. He HAD felt a bit overwhelmed when he had listened to all the information before, but Harry hadn't expected it to this extent. He lifted one of the books about the classes in Hogwarts. It should go both in the "Current" section AND in "Hogwarts". He sighed and pulled the book, creating a copy. This was going to take forever, since each book might have to be in multiple places.

Still, it would be worth the effort to recall the information easier. The automatic sorting of his library was limited per section after all. Family memories should not be sorted with cooking lessons. French children stories shouldn't be in the Geography section.

As he placed each memory into each shelf, he watched that section resort itself. He copied some things into common knowledge, although he had decided to create a new section for MAGICAL common knowledge. He felt that the conflicts between the two would be the perfect place to find new ideas and solve old problems for both sides.

He looked forward to adding books to the golden shelf especially. He had marked it the "Essential" section, and it contained the most critical information. His languages, his coordination at different heights, his ability to manipulate threads. Some of the most critical parts of who he was was on that shelf.

The one up here was a copy of course. He kept the room with the originals VERY well hidden, and had given Jim the memory of where he had hid it. He couldn't find the originals if he wanted to, although he could add to them with Jim's approval.

He had picked up several books about magical languages, including Mermish, Gobbledegook for Goblins, and Troll. They even had runes you could press to hear the sounds as needed, which would help him pick it up much faster. Harry really wanted to know these languages so well that he would be able to converse without consciously recognizing the change.

He sighed as he picked up the scrap of paper with the conversion rate of Galleons and such. The new money was just about as silly as the non-magical one. He added it to the right shelf and moved on. At least when he used the Key Harry didn't have to begin pulling random coins out of everywhere.

At least some of the information was important to him. He grinned at Hermione's shelf and turned to the newest section of his purple library: The Potter Section. Everything he could find about his family. He even made copies of his Mom and Dad's last night in book form and added them. Every detail Professor McGonagall had given was carefully added, each scrap he gained placed in honor.

He would have more when he was allowed full access to his vaults, but until then he would try to contact everyone who knew James and Lily Potter and make this section huge.

Harry looked back at the remaining pile and sighed. No one said organizing your mind was fun.

~~~Core Threads~~~

LAST BLOODY ONE.

Forget learning. That had been TERRIBLE. He had at long last filled out the 'First Year Texts' section of the Hogwarts shelf, although he had left room for any notes to be added. Honestly that had been the easiest part.

No, the ANNOYING part had been creating mental maps and recreations of all the places he had been. He had dedicated an orange room JUST FOR mental maps, and Gringotts alone had taken forever! Apparently the tunnels moved as well, although he hadn't noticed it at the time.

He had enjoyed going through Flourish and Blotts again, although parts of that store were more sketchy. Harry's original plan of mapping it out had fallen apart when he had met his new friend. Not that he regretted it of course. Harry knew he would be visiting the shop again often enough anyway.

The green-eyed boy had also created a sub-room in the purple library, a light purple room with models of all the people he had met with their names, times and places, and a tiny trunk in front of each one. Each trunk contained all the memories he had involving that person.

He had added a copy of Hermione, her parents, and Professor McGonagall to his green hall as well. The hall contained his treasures, and for some reason he couldn't explain these people were now one of them. Their models now were in a light green sub-room, inside where his magic lived. It felt warm for them to be in his green hall, with the Dursleys.

He smiled as he moved out into the sunshine, letting all the doors to the various rooms and halls close behind him. The clouds had increased a bit, now with random pleasant magical memories like watching a broom hover in the alley, kids eating color changing ice-cream, and so forth.

His smile faltered a bit as he watched gamma squadron. Apparently Jim had thought broom flying to be a marvelous idea, since the duck teams were too young to fly themselves. As a result he had combined all the broom memories into one, duplicated it, and had begun training gamma squadron on broom riding.

They didn't have thumbs, so progress was slow. And looked painful.

Harry sighed. Jim had high hopes for the flying canaries, as he was calling gamma team now. The boy couldn't see it though, not unless they could stay ON the darn things without falling every few seconds.

He relaxed on the grass, and began trying to recreate the tunnel accident he had done in his room. It may not be a perfect owl delivery system, but it acted AWFULLY close to a rail-gun. Imagine what would happen if you shoved a car through one end? He giggled a bit as a giant tube began to form.

Harry stared at his hand in horror. Apparently if you form a tube and a duck on a broom flies into it, the duck gets launched... FAR.

Jim was going to kill him.


	17. Bags of Holding

Many quacks later and fewer bites than expected, Harry and Jim had reached a compromise.

Well, Jim reached an opinion and Harry compromised, but whatever. A large section of the grasslands had been turned into solid rock, with threads woven through it for strength, and all experimentation would be done there, hopefully safely.

Thankfully the Flying Canaries had thought the ride was awesome, once they finally made it back. They had duck-handled Harry into creating a smaller permanent tube near the lake shore, which acted similar to a ramped up tire swing. He had sat on the bench and watched ducks being launched for quite a bit while waiting for his body to heal from tiny fang bites.

He crossed his arms, now seated in the middle of the rock zone. Making the tube had been neat, but not even close to what he wanted. Still he had taken the time to learn how to make them quickly and at varying widths/lengths. At this point he could only make one at a time, but for an accident it was still a neat discovery. A non-magnetic rail-gun? Awesome.

Still, he had wanted to try and make a bigger-on-inside bag, like the bottomless pouches he had bought. Harry grinned. Well, bottomless was a huge exaggeration, but they were still really useful. The problem was closing the tube, which seemed impossible after tightly coiling the ropes.

He raised both hands, sending ropes into a series of vertical and horizontal lines, weaving them into a cloth. This was similar to what he had used for his memory display, although he focused on this sheet being round instead of square or rectangular.

Absently playing with the disk, he pushed on the middle. His eyes narrowed at how firm it was. Pulling and twisting his hands, he heavily loosened the density of the weave, so had huge net like holes throughout the disk.

Harry smiled as he pressed his hand in the middle, watching it bend like soft cloth. THIS had potential. He absently reconnected to the cloth as a thick rope pushed in the center, pulling the disk into a long bag. After it was stretched to around the length of a flagpole, he gripped the inside of the magic tube and began twirling it. The woven threads began to tighten as the tension increased.

Carefully pulling on the inside of the bag with his rope, he tried to pull it inside out while his threads continued twisting the tube.

He lost his grip as he heard a loud POP. In his hands was the tube inverted, but he couldn't seem to touch it with anything but his rope. There was no edge. He gently grabbed the opening and twisted the rim inside out, a frown of concentration etched into his face as he could feel the threads again. Apparently the turning inside out part was a mental thing, not real. The threads almost felt like they didn't belong to him now when he "turned them inside out". He continued unrolling the rim until suddenly the rim connected to itself. Now he was holding a ring, one side covered in his cloth, the other side still a really long tube that felt unconnected to his power.

A rush of success made his eyes sparkle as he held the ring. Placing it on the ground, he felt it with the thread and confirmed that the twisting inside felt like the pouch. The rim seemed odd though. He waved a hand, and a copy of him exploring the wallet and pouch appeared as small booklets from his library.

He absently floated the bottomless disk as he reviewed his memories. It looked like there was a secondary thread level along the rim of the professionally made stuff. One felt like his tube, but shaped like a funnel. The other was too complicated to really understand, with complex and interwoven parts. That part probably handled the contents list creation and the item retrieval parts, which were the most complicated parts of the pouch.

Harry created a tube, and began to turn it into a funnel. He dropped the memory into the large end... oh.

Well, guess the shrinking charm won't be that hard to learn.

He picked up the tiny book, flipped the funnel over, and dropped it the other way through, watching it restore to the expected size. Wonder if this works on anything?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Yep, works on ducks. Well, memories pressed into the shape of a duck with vamp teeth. Maybe he should test this on animals in the real world before jumping in a funnel himself.

Harry also had a bit of a freak-out when all of beta squad had jumped in. Thankfully the process turned out to be reversible. From what he could see, things that went in the large end were coated with a thin thread layer, which compressed the object (Without pain, according the Beta team lead.) Reversing the trip cleaned all the threads right off.

He had made several more disks, and messed with the shape of the bag. He could make some pretty big ones, but only up to a certain point where it began to stick to itself when turning it inside out. The real breakthrough had been when he had made the bag out of threads, ropes, and cords, where the cords acted like a strong box frame, the ropes created a structured grid, and the threads created green sheets filling in the gaps. He had gotten the idea from one of his memories of the trunks, where he had examined the internal thread network.

The boy rolled his shoulder. He had forced the reinforced box-bag inside out and had nearly wrenched his shoulder out of its socket. It had taken a LOT of ropes, and he had been really tired for a while after. The second time had been much easier, somehow the process got easier with repetition, like his magic was learning from the process and doing things more efficiently each time.

Harry lifted the ring leading into the box-pouch. quickly forming and fitting a funnel into it, he began pushing things in. Without the shrinking, he could fit all kinds of stuff inside, but WITH it it would take FOREVER to fill this up. After filling it with some random copies of memories, one gamma duck who had gotten too close, and two or three clouds, he analyzed the box. No matter how he rotated the entrance, the contents acted like they were all stationary. It felt like turning these pouches inside out somehow disconnected it from reality to some extent.

Not that surprising, since magic always felt disconnected from normal reality. Still, it meant that he could leave delicate things inside without worrying about it being squished, or thrown around.

He idly twirled his fingers, watching the square opening spin. He could bind the magic to a pocket or something, like his pouch... but why bother? It worked as raw magic, although he needed to keep it attached to one of his threads or else it began to degrade. The box-pouch version weakened a bit, but the non-reinforced pouch version would dissolve in a few hours with nothing to bind it to.

He had reviewed many memories of the pouches at this point, and after careful examination he could just barely see random threads in the air being sucked into the bound pattern. Random magic in the air was slowly absorbed by the magical cloth, like drops of dew collected on grass or other objects. Without being bound to a physical object, magic had to be directed to it specifically, or the air had to be much more saturated.

He dropped the square object into the back of his left hand. Focusing, tiny threads of green power under his skin wrapped into the lip of the box-pouch and dragged it into the back of his hand.

OWCH! Bloody HELL, why did he do that?!

His left hand felt like he had smashed it into a wall. As he watched the threads in his skin were reconnecting to the box-pouch, and the lip began changing the pattern in his arm. He now had a thick rope from his core connecting to the pouch, and the inside was now filling with the thin threads that naturally grew in his skin.

It was like growing a new arm, but while on fire.

Teeth clenched, his face stone solid, he glared the pain down. As his magic stabilized, he saw that the main cause of the pain had been his body trying to handle the part of the box outside his reality, the inside. With barely a thought he flicked his left hand, all kinds of memories and one annoyed duck flying out of it. Hell, it stung like a... well, it felt bad anyway.

Harry ran his shaking right hand through his hair. He really needed more information about magic. He could tell when something would be 'dangerous', but clearly not when something would be 'OH GOD WHY DID YOU DO THAT' painful.

He ran his fingers over the back of his left hand. The opening almost felt like a mouth. It opened when he wanted it to, he could feel everything inside of it (Of course he would, it was like he grew skin inside now that it had all his threads in there), and right now it ITCHED. Hopefully that would pass quickly.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry woke, grumbling slightly under his covers. His left hand was still sore. He had REALLY hoped that his stupid idea had not been incorporated into his physical body, but NOOO.

He would have to be more careful messing with his form in his mind, clearly.

A wave of the hand and his clothing wrapped around him again, was cleansed, and faded to a gray shirt and dark blue jeans. He got up and felt his bed being made behind him as he went to his trunk. As he opened it and felt around for his wand with his threads, he looked at the back of his left hand. There was a green square on the back.

Great.

Still, if he was stuck with it for now he might as well use it. His hand snagged the wand from the air and he tagged it with two threads, one for each core. Watching carefully, he pressed it into his left hand... and it vanished.

His blank face began to break into a devious smirk.

Crazy self experimentation? No, this was all planed. Yep. Well, he would tell people that anyway.

Aww, who cared, he had magical hand storage! Who WOULDN'T find this awesome! His mind idly thought about being covered in boxes and having guns and stuff that would poke out and fire and... oh. Right, it hurt like hell.

Well, one was more than enough.

He moved the most valuable things into his hand, including his master book. As he began moving things around, he bumped into the previously made potions he had bought from the apothecary shop. He had bought a bunch of them when Professor McGonagall had not been looking, believing the better-safe-than-sorry approach would work best. He had also paid extra for the gold runes on the rim of the potions, which should keep them from spoilage for several years.

Harry was told that the three bezoars he had bought (Ugly rock like things) would be able to handle most poisons in existence. Of course he immediately asked for potions to cure the ones bezoars skipped on. That ended with him owning five Antidote to Common Poisons and three Antidote to Uncommon Poisons. He had wanted more, but there was a limited stock at the shop since anyone who needed it would normally die before getting to some store.

Paranoia of course kept him from stopping at antidotes, although he expected SOMEONE to try and poison him eventually. The Potter name was too well known for someone NOT to try and crazy him out of his existence, even without deatheaters being out there. While some potions had nasty side effects (Calming Draughts could be addicting and over-use could make a person stop caring about danger), he had gotten several jars of Burn-healing paste and some vials of Blood-Replenishing Potions. He had also found something called "Essence of Dittany", which would regrow skin over his wounds. He had held off on that though, he wouldn't want to have extra skin accidentally, but he did get some "Murtlap Essence" which was supposed to heal and sooth deep cuts and abrasions.

Other stuff was actually fairly cheap, even with the preservation runes. The Cough Potions and Hiccoughing Solution (Cures coughs and hiccups) were almost given away.

He had tried to get something called "Baruffio's Brain Elixir", but it was heavily restricted for children with mental development issues by the ministry. It supposedly made the brain more efficient and stuff, but on a healthy individual it could cause madness. Same issue with the Memory Potions and so forth. The mind had to develop naturally if possible, else things could go VERY wrong, like your magic exploding you and stuff.

It had been during that conversation about ministry potion regulation that he had discovered love potions.

He had nearly passed out.

A potion that would basically turn you into a sex-crazed mindless zombie, as kinky as it sounded, terrified him. He knew there were lots of girls (Probably old witches too) that wanted to have THE Harry Potter. As far as he could tell it was the magical world's form of Viagra, only more acceptable since it could be tuned to your husband/wife only and not worry about friends or strangers suddenly getting MUCH closer to you.

Using it against someone without their knowledge was illegal, but so was killing and someone had tried THAT on Harry VERY early on.

He had wanted to buy a LOT of love potion antidote. Thankfully the shopkeep (When she had stopped laughing at his expression) had told him about some basic charms that lasted for weeks to prevent this kind of thing. Obviously famous people and ministry officials were targets for women and men who wanted power, and a sex-crazed person could be tricked pretty easily to sign stuff. It was why the "Unforgivable" Imperio was so... unforgivable. Unlike the weaker compulsion charms and love potions, it could not be blocked with the prevention charm (She had provided a pamphlet on how to cast it, which also included a fertility charm and a contraceptive charm to his embarrassment. These things really were meant for older wizards after all.)

As a last resort, the nice lady (Who had eventually demanded to be told why a child was buying so many potions) had suggested that Harry should buy several Restoration Potions, which were supposed to get rid of most spell effects and potions from the body. She did warn him not to use them all the time, as they were a last resort measure and had a heavy toll on a wizards body and magic.

He carefully tagged each potion with a thread and placed into his hand, so he could know WHICH potion each was and pull only the ones he needed. He held the pamphlet again, feeling embarrassed even a day later. He really needed to memorize it and practice in his head, but he kept blushing when he opened it.

Several awkward moments later he filed the pamphlet inside a random book and hid it in his library trunk. His cheeks felt burned red, but at least he would know those spells for later. Much later, likely.

He put other tools into his hand, including his telescope and the knife for potions class, as well as some quills and ink pens. He also put a good amount of parchment and empty potion phials in as well. It had felt odd as the paper shrank into his hand, like shoving a water balloon through a tube.

He had lots of space left, but he wanted the rest to go in his family trunk.

His eyes fell on the raw materials. It would save time if he didn't have to keep going to his room when he needed to repair things. With a wave of his right hand, cubes of wood, plastic, metals, and glass moved from his stockpiles into his left hand, shrinking to smaller than a sugar cube. He tagged them all with his green threads as his room suddenly grew cleaner than it had been for months. Finally the various threads of cotton, silk, plastic, and such were pulled into his hand, leaving his room feeling both larger and strangely empty.

He shook his head at his now much more viewable room. For the last year or so he had gone with Petunia to flea shows, thrift stores, even a couple of dumps with the owners permission. He had gathered a LOT of material, using it to repair and strengthen the house, make changes and additions to furniture, even make clothing for his family. But even with all that, his room had been filled with refined material till it had almost felt claustrophobic again.

Now that it was all stored away, he could really tell how large his grass room had been. It almost felt lonely without his piles of clean bricks and woven blankets of cloth.

He glanced at his hand. Thankfully it didn't feel any heavier. Then again, Harry never really felt weight when moving things with his ropes... maybe this was a similar thing. Maybe he could store food in there?

A quick internal debate with Jim determined that it was late enough in the morning for everyone to be waking up, so Harry went to the kitchen. It was almost time for more experiments!

~~~Core Threads~~~

It was almost time to head to the train station, and the Dursleys were having a rough time. Dudley was really trying not to cry, his big bro was going to be gone for the whole year. He had kind of hoped Harry would go to Smeltings with him. They had other friends, but... well, it wasn't the same.

Vernon had never really gotten comfy with the idea of Harry's abilities, but he did love how happy Petunia and Dudley had become. He was worried the house would seem emptier without the boy.

Petunia was trying really hard to pretend Harry wasn't going anywhere. Even so, she kept tearing up every now and again, straightening Harry's perfect clothing, or giving quick hugs every once in a while. The breakfast she had made had been so large the table had groaned.

Harry felt a strange mix of excitement and fear. He had tagged each of his family with a thread of his magic so Jim could keep track of their health and location, but he still was worried how they would be without him around.

He had actually learned how to tag people by studied the way his magic connected to the red network and attempting a similar connection to Hedwig. That was a MASSIVE mistake, it had almost knocked Hedwig out with the amount of magic she received before he lowered the thread thickness to near invisible.

She had smacked his head for hours, but their connection was much stronger after that. She had also gotten a bit larger, and her eyes had changed to have a band of green in them like his power. It had been her idea to 'Just attach a thread to them dummy', as she so elegantly put it.

It would have been easier to focus really if Jim hadn't been laughing at him getting his head smacked.

So he could now feel his family in his magic, along with a small area around them. It was easiest with Petunia, since her threads seemed to feed data like the red network does, allowing Jim to monitor the area around her to some extent. Still...

He worried.

Breakfast had been fairly quite, each member handling the stress in their own way.

Vernon finally put his paper down. "Well boy, time to get going. Got your things?"

Harry nodded, getting up and almost making it to the door before Petunia hugged him again. "Now you be good Harrykins, don't let anyone hurt you and make lots of friends, and you should write us at least on the weekends, and eat right even if you are not hungry, and..."

He hugged her again, stopping her comments. "I will, Aunty." She gave a watery smile at the boy and hugged Dudley as everyone moved into the car and headed toward a train and a new world.


	18. Everyone on the Train

King's Cross was BUSY.

Harry watched families and strangers weaving through the steam filled terminals, much yelling, grumbling, and mechanical noises flooding his senses. His power was wrapped tightly right now, since there were clearly lots of non-magicals around. He had made his family trunk book sized, since it had everything not stored in his hand he only had to worry about Hedwig. Petunia had suggested they use the cage she had come in, but Harry and Hedwig had not enjoyed the thought.

She was far to elegant for cages... and Harry didn't like getting winged in the face.

So Hedwig was fallowing from above.

Still, the crowds were confusing and exciting. The Dursleys moved along the platforms until they reached the boundary between platform 9 and 10... and were now stuck.

As it got closer to 10am, Harry lost his cool and unwrapped enough of his core to see threads. His eyes glowed green as he saw the multiple colors... witches, wizards, enchanted items, all moving in one direction. Pulling on Petunia's arm, he led the family to a beautiful wall between the two platforms. It seemed to be a heavy mesh of threads, dozens of colors, patterns, and individual threads were twisted into shapes and seemed merged into each other.

Petunia hugged him again. "Are you sure this is the right spot Harry?"

Harry looked at the light show behind them. "Well, uh. Yeah. It is kind of VERY obvious. Like a firework show."

Dudley managed a small giggle before he hugged his brother. "Harry, I... I will miss you. And don't tell anyone, else. Ok?"

Harry, now much taller than his little D, gave him a squeeze. "D, don't worry about a thing. Everyone will know before Christmas." Harry smirked as he dodged a smack from the boy. "Now now, you almost got me that time."

Dudley sniffed as he gave a mock-glare. "Yeah, next time." He looked away. "Just be safe, bro."

Harry grinned. "OF COURSE! I be the mighty Harry, of COURSE I will be amazing!"

Vernon tapped the boy's head. "Course you will. Now don't get in no trouble now."

He rolled his eyes. "No Uncle, I won't get in trouble." He checked the station time. "You guys better move along. I am expecting someone and I don't want to miss their family."

Dudley snickered, still a bit teary eyed. "Ah, the book girl you were talkin bout?"

Harry shifted his eyes. "Uh. No. Now move along people, nothing to see here."

Petunia gave him another hug before Vernon pulled her and Dudley back to the car. The boy would do fine, he had already survived more than anyone he knew. He hugged his wife and son as his other young man waved them off.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry probably should be less nervous at this point, but for some reason waiting for Hermione and her family was REALLY making his hands sweat.

They had exchanged owl messages a few times, but the first few had been hasty scribbled comments like "BOOK SORTING TALK LATER" and such. He had to finally call them on the phone to confirm when they were heading to the station, and even then he wasn't sure they knew who they were talking to.

All he had heard was grunting, paper rustling, and the occasional "DON'T DROP THAT!"

He assumed it was bookcase trunk related.

Finally he saw some brown hair lugging a Hogwarts trunk followed by two taller adults.

He waved. "Hermione!" The girl looked at him and nearly stopped, her parents saying some less than charitable words as their shins hit the trunk. Harry moved toward them, dodging some people (Magical and not) who were late to their trains.

"Um... are you related to Harry Dursley? Like, his older brother?" Hermione's stare was now joined by Jean and Tom Granger.

"What?" Harry looked down, realizing that down was farther than he was used to. "Oh, the height thing." He smiled at the girl, now shorter than him rather than the other way around. "Well, I decided to be taller for Hogwarts. I asked Professor McGonagall how tall boys my age are supposed to be after we finished shopping."

Jean Granger seemed to recover first. "So... you just changed your height? Was it like a spell or ritual or something?"

Harry shrugged. "I had an incident when I was younger. I only grow if I want to now." Ignoring their slack faces, Harry leaned over and examined Hermione's trunk. "Is there a reason you are dragging this around?"

Hermione blushed slightly at how close the taller version of Harry was. "I need my stuff, don't I?"

Harry pressed his hand on the Hogwarts Crest and muttered "Shrink". Hermione almost fell over as she was now holding a book sized trunk. "Much easier like this, no?"

Tom looked at the tiny trunk in horror. "Please tell me that those trunks can't all do that?" Seeing Harry's confusion, he pointed. "I have been moving trunks all over the house for the last MONTH since we bought them! Sure they are light, but I kept banging my fingers and stuff on the doorways."

Hermione had a sheepish smile. "Oh yeah... I must have forgotten the size charm thing. I had new books and stuff, and then we had to find all the books that we had misplaced and... uh. Yeah."

Jean swatted Tom on the back of the head. "You know you were well repaid, love." She gave him a quick kiss that left him slightly glossy eyed and the two kids feeling awkward. Smirking at her little girl, she gave her a hug. "Now you be safe dear, and make sure to work hard."

Harry tried to not intrude on the tearful goodbyes, focusing on the children moving through the portal on the wall. As each child started to pass it, he could feel a wave of threads that tried to make people look away for a second. It actually felt nice, like a light breeze.

He turned back as Hermione got ready to go. "Got your things Harry?" She was still having issues with his new height, but she felt stuff like this probably happened all the time in the magic world.

Harry waved his Family Trunk-book. "Yep, and it looks like the entrance is over there." He waved a hand at the wall, seeing both Tom and Jean look past his pointing. "Hmm. Looks like magic is required to even notice it. Well, shall we?"

Hermione straightened both shoulders and got a determined gleam in her eyes. "We shall." Together they walked into the barrier, Harry shivering from the cool magic washing over his shoulders.

~~~Core Threads~~~

A bright red steam engine caught their attention. LOTS of people were on the platform, some seemed to be looking for someone... Probably him, Harry grumbled. After all, everyone knew his birthday, so they knew this was his first year.

Smoke from the train waifed over the crowds, families hugging children and waving at faces already on the train. The number of robes was astounding, enough to make Harry feel slightly awkward to be in normal... uh, non-magical clothing.

He absently grabbed Hermione's hand as they wove their way through the crowds, heading to one of the entrances to the train. A boy with a round face was talking to an older woman about having lost a toad, some boy with wicked dreadlocks was showing off what seemed to be a spider (He felt Hermione grab tighter as they passed).

Before entering the train, Harry paused as Hedwig landed gently on his shoulder. He faced the owl. "Hedwig dear, this train ride will likely take hours. Do you want to just fly along to Hogwarts and wait for me?" She nodded, and then flew off.

Hermione seemed overwhelmed by the crowd, so they moved onto the train. The first few cars were full of older students, and seemed fairly hostile to strangers. They moved on to a car that was mostly empty except for two girls, a bond with pig-tails and a red head. He knocked on their open door.

Harry smiled at the two surprised girls. "Excuse me, can my friend and I sit here? It seems really busy today."

The red head blushed, but the other girl spoke up. "Sure, come on in! I am Hannah Abbot, this is my friend Susan Bones."

Susan blushed again, clearly uncomfortable but trying to move her trunk up to the racks where the other one was.

Harry grinned. "Nice to meet you Susan, Hannah. This is my first friend in the magical world, Hermione Granger." He ignored her blush as well, using his hand an subtle use of a rope to lift Susan's trunk to the upper ledge. "And my name is Harry, nice to meet you both."

Both of the girls seemed to start a little at this before looking at his forehead. He hid his grin knowing the scar was a distant memory at this point. He sat down next to Hannah, Hermione sitting next to Susan. "Yeah, Hermione is just now entering the magical world, and I didn't even know about magic until just recently. Any advice for a first generation magical?"

Susan seemed worried. "You did get the list of stuff for school, right? You should have trunks too."

Harry pulled his family trunk from his pouch, waving it with his hand covering the crest. "We spent some time and more than a little coin getting trunks that shrink. Great shop in Diagon Alley for it."

Hermione nodded. "You would not BELIEVE how many trunks they have! We got a lot of Bookcase trunks, and we STILL have room for more books! We even filled it with most of the downstairs library!"

Hannah caught Susan's eyes before both nodded, "Ravenclaw."

Harry grinned. "No doubt. I am aiming for it too, there is just too much to learn about magic really."

The minutes seemed to fly by as everyone got more relaxed. Hermione seemed to light up as they talked about spells and the different school houses, Hannah seemed light and open to begin with, and Susan started talking more, with much less hesitation. She even swatted Hannah, which seemed to be a regular habit.

Harry shifted again, slightly pinched from holding his threads in. Susan, who had been watching more closely than he had realized, leaned closer. "Harry, are you ok? You seemed to be in a bit of pain."

Hermione almost instantly worried while Hannah was giving him a calculating glance before poking his shoulder.

"Stop that, sheesh." He grinned as he swatted her hand away. "It is nothing big, it just starts to sting the longer I hold back my magic."

He looked up and saw three pairs of wide eyes staring at him.

"What?"

Susan tried to get Hannah to say something with her eyes before she sighed. "Harry, why are you holding back your magic? I didn't even know a wizard could do that!"

Harry tilted his head. "You mean that you guys aren't? How do you prevent non-magicals from feeling the power?"

Hermione was playing with her book sized trunk. "Harry, could you relax your magic now? We don't mind, and you are allowed to use magic on the Hogwarts Express." She seemed to shrink a bit when everyone looked at her. "It uh.. It is in Hogwarts: A history."

Harry shrugged, and relaxed his threads.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione had been shocked when she arrived at the train station and saw her friend. Her suddenly TALL friend, with very apparent muscles. His face seemed slightly leaner, like he was about to run or sprint, and his eyes seemed an almost faded green, not the vibrant hue she remembered.

Still he had seemed really up-beat, and Hermione didn't know much about magic except the books she had picked up. Maybe this happened to all magical boys when they started school? But if boys got to pick their height that seemed unfair.

She had felt scared all over again when she had seen the crowds on the new platform, but Harry had cut through them like a shark. His hand had pulled her safely away from the crowd, and he always seemed to vibrate with some inner energy.

So if he felt this strong holding BACK his magic...

She watched his eyes close before some stress lines she hadn't noticed seemed to fade from his face. It was like watching someone have a cup of hot chocolate after a long day, like the world just fell off his shoulders.

OH. Oh my.

The whole cabin seemed to suddenly get slightly more clear, more colorful. The sounds outside dimmed, the light inside was brighter, the glass seemed less transparent, the couches were more soft and had more legroom. And beneath it all, was a feeling of warmth, a slight smell of fresh paper and book bindings, the sound of someone turning a page seemed just out of hearing.

When he opened his eyes, a slight green glow came forth as she forgot to breath. Each eye was so deep, with white threads that seemed to swirl and dance.

She almost dropped her trunk.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hannah wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Harry had said something about restraining his magic. Was that possible? She had never known that was possible without a spell. Maybe he had some cuffs or some sort...

Oh.

It was like a bubble expanded, filling the room. As it crossed her it felt like someone giving her a hug because it was cold outside, like someone was tired and leaning against her back because they could trust her to hold them up, like someone had put an umbrella up to keep the noon sun off her skin at the beach. Everything felt more real, and she felt like her feet were just off a beach, her hands near a sandy glass of pumpkin juice, and the sounds of seagulls somewhere.

She couldn't see much of Harry's eyes when he opened them, but she could feel the draw, as if the green glow coming from his orbs hid some deeper truth, that if she could just get a better look something deep would be explained. She saw the other two girls going slack at his eyes, so she nudged him with her elbow.

His sudden glance at her nearly took her breath away before he closed his eyes.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Susan had felt something odd about the two when they had first entered, but couldn't place it. It hadn't been oily like that man her Aunt had arrested when he tried to attack them, or grungy like the informants she had seen. Just odd.

Restraining his power? He felt almost like a squib, or a muggle. Was it some sort of line? Well, it was a pretty lame pick...

From nowhere she found an ocean. It was like lifting a doormat and finding Canada. As his power swelled, she could almost feel thousands of other auras pushed away... and it almost seemed to be APPOLOGISING for doing it! This boy was creating an aura so huge, so wide, so...

It had hit her before she could do anything but flinch.

No Pain? She had been hit with auras before, by people trying to gain a kidnap victim to use against her aunt. It had felt hungry, angry, searching for blood... but not this one.

This one felt like a puppy sniffing for a treat, like a butterfly that had almost landed on her nose but found a flower nearby instead. As the wave past her she realize it wasn't slowing, it was increasing in depth. Her skin felt cleaner, her clothing felt warmer, her hair felt smoother. She could almost feel the boards of a dueling platform beneath her, her heart ready for a training round with her aunt, the sounds of softly bending floorboards almost clear.

Then she saw his eyes.

They felt so deep, so far, so large. Like she could see anything, if she could get a bit closer and look just a little longer. His eyes glowed a soft green, a color so close to the killing curse was giving her such feelings of acceptance, of seeing who she was and acknowledging her existence. She felt the world get a bit quieter.

Suddenly he turned away, looking at Hannah. Susan took a deep breath. When did she stop breathing?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry quickly reduced the threads to his eyes. He had released his threads all at once, instead of the normal thickness his eyes had received dozens of cords of power by accident.

It had been beautiful. Each girl was a maze of colors, deep threads that wove in complex shapes and seemed to suggest a future of growth and maturity. Hermione's deep orange threads were already strong, just waiting for growth and application. Susan had a purple thread network, and Hannah had blue threads just waiting to be used. The potential had been enough to make him forget what he was doing, where he was, why he had released some of his power to begin with.

Thankfully Hannah had ribbed him.

He closed his eyes and reduced his eyes to standard thread level. Opening them seemed to freak the girls out for a moment before they relaxed.

"Ok, what the bloody hell was that!"

"HANNAH! LANGUAGE!" Susan swatted her knee.

Harry chuckled nervously. "Uh... that wasn't supposed to happen. I accidentally released too much magic to my eyes. In my defense though, I had never held my power so tightly for so long before." He nervously rubbed his knees together. "Sorry. That was interesting but unintentional."

Hermione seemed to have recovered faster, or at least enough to ask questions. "What do you mean, too much magic? Why do you have magic in your eyes at all?"

Harry pointed at his face. "I learned that when healing myself as a kid, I accidentally activated Mage sight. It lets me see raw magic, and it really helped me control my magic when I thought it was just green threads of light."

Susan tried to focus. "Threads? So magic looks like green yarn or something?"

Harry shook his head. "Well, mine is green like my eyes. Hermione has this deep orange color, Hannah is blue, and Susan is purple. I have seen most people as gray if they have no magic, or very light blue if they have it but their core is too tight to allow threads out."

Hannah tilted her head. "You mean... Squibs? Squibs have light blue threads?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Never heard of a squib before. Anyway, my Aunt was like that. She couldn't do anything magical until I forced a thread out of her core."

At least this time Hermione joined Harry's confusion when the other two looked at them in shock.


	19. Unwelcome Visitors

Apparently giving these "Squib" people magic was like walking on water in this culture. It took a while to convince the girls to talk about ANYTHING else, and in the end he had to promise to show them some of what he could do with the threads.

Harry sighed. Even that backfired slightly. Apparently wandless magic was ALSO idolized in this culture, so now they wanted to learn how to do that. And of course Hermione had to bring up the Occlumency thing.

Still, he couldn't keep a small smile off his face. It felt good to be able to talk about his abilities. Auntie loved practicing, but she couldn't quite grasp everything he tried to tell her, and he always felt guilty since he knew Vernon wasn't that comfy with mystical stuff.

But these girls knew all about him, and they... oh.

He sat up, interrupting their discussion. "Wait, did I already introduce myself?"

They all looked at him like he had just slapped himself. "Uh... yes Harry, you walked in with me, remember?" Hermione tried not to giggle.

He rolled his eyes. "Ok, so you know my last name is Potter, right?"

Apparently not.

Hermione was confused. "I thought you were Harry Dursley?"

He nodded. "My adopted family was my Mom's Sisters, Petunia Dursley. So at home I am Harry Dursley." He looked at everyone. "I mean, I obviously couldn't be raised with other Potters, right?"

There were some awkward looks. Hermione rubbed her hands worriedly. "Uh.. yeah. Sorry Harry, it was just.. I mean, when I met you, you were just a small kid who made me feel better when those boys were jerks in the bookstore. All these changes kind of set me off balance I guess."

Harry moved over and gave her a quick hug. "Sorry Hermione, I am so used to the only people who know me being used to how strange I am." He looked at the other two confused girls. "When I met Hermione last month I was much shorter." He held his hand up. "She didn't know I had decided to be taller this school year, and her family was busy with house stuff, so we didn't get to meet up before today."

Hannah looked at the door before leaning in. "How did you change your height? Was it like a superpower or something?" She blushed seeing Susan's face. "Shut-up, I just read some of those Harry Potter books."

Harry laughed, shaking his head. "No, I have no idea what are in those books. No one interviewed me, I know that much." He pointed at his arm. "I can use my ropes and threads to heal, dissolve, age, and whatever. I don't age unless someone reminds me that I need to be taller or whatever. Until I saw Hermione I had stayed the same height since I was 8, and I picked that one so I could match my bro's height, Big D."

Susan tilted her head. "My aunt has been talking to a girl who is an Metamorphmagus, someone who can change her body to look like different people. It seems like an awesome ability."

Harry shrugged. "I guess. It hurts a bit, and I have to eat a lot of meat, drink milk, etc. So much of me is made of magic now I don't think I could age unless I choose to, since it just cleans up and repairs age like a disease."

Susan nodded, thinking. "Is there any other benefit to doing thread stuff like you?"

He started counting fingers. "Well, I can heal others like myself, I think I made my mind-scape with it by accident, I can enter other people's mind-scapes, and sometimes I can just understand some spells and stuff by seeing how it looks." He absently had his wand pulled from his hand, not noticing the other's eyes widen. "I can also use any wand I want, since I can see it trying to connect to my core and let it in."

Hermione grabbed his left hand, not noticing him blush slightly. "Harry, how did you do that hand thing?"

He frowned. "Ah, that was an accident. I was trying to make bottomless pouches and I thought it would be cool to put one in my hand." he rubbed it with his other hand. "Hurt like nothing I had felt before, and that is saying something."

Susan had reached a limit. "OK, NO MORE HARRY QUESTIONS. Just... lets talk about the weather or something. If we keep this up I am worried he will tell us he found Atlantis or something." She paused. Harry shook his head. She sighed in relief. "SO let's just talk about teachers and stuff, normal witch stuff, ok?"

Harry shrugged. It was all fine by him. At some point the train had started, and Jim reported that several people (Including a boy with REALLY red hair) had tried to get in while Harry's threads held it closed. He relaxed now that the deep conversations were done and let go of the door.

Which promptly slammed open, letting a boy with slick back blond hair to simper in. Two bulky but slow looking boys were trying to be manly behind him.

Harry sighed. "Yes, can I help you?"

He could FEEL the sneer cast at them. "Quiet lowlife, I am looking for Harry Potter." Catching sight of Hermione who had gone white his sneer seemed to double. "Not that he would be here with such filth. Damn Mudblood."

Susan felt the room harden. The air seemed thick, the floor hard, and there was a... a PULSE. Harry's eyes had become slits as he stood, green beams of light shining like beacons over the three boys. He stood, but it felt like was much taller, like a giant was on one knee and looking down on the three boys who now were much less confident.

The sounds vanished. Susan couldn't even hear her own heartbeat. Just as she began to panic she could hear Harry's voice, softly moving like wind over gravestones at night.

"Young man, I do not believe we have been introduced."

Without moving a muscle, the two bulky boys stood stiff and straight and were gently pushed out of the compartment as the door slid closed as if on greased rails.

The child could not talk. He felt he couldn't move, like he was tied with hair to the ground. The world was dark, just two green eyes looking down from a high place.

"It is not polite, young man, to insult others. It is not done. Are we in agreement?"

His knees were weak, his arms shaken. His wand was in his pocket, but that was miles away. He couldn't even blink.

"Nod for me, young man. Agree with me that it was inappropriate to say such things to the young lady."

The boy shook everything he could in agreement. A sigh escaped the creature in front of him, as he felt boned fingers slowly pull him out of the room. The last sound he heard as the door closed was almost disappointed in him, which somehow hurt even worse than the reprimand.

"The boy needs to learn manners."

~~~Core Threads~~~

As the door shut the room seemed to thaw like ice on a spring day. Harry fell heavily on his seat, not meeting the eyes of the others in the room. His voice, so powerful before, seemed almost broken now.

"S... Sorry. I got angry."

His hands were shaking. Hermione was torn between trying to help him calm or... run? No. It hadn't even been directed at her. It had just been so much.

Susan was the first to move. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for not doing anything to them. My Aunt says that sometimes it is the actions that we don't do that make us human." She thought back to her Aunt's stories, where hostages had been lost or won by last minute choices of desperate but good men.

She felt him laugh hollowly. "It is a side effect of my conflict with Voldemort way back when." He tried to ignore everyone's flinch at the name. "Anger is easy for me, although I have become much better at directing it. It is why I want to learn instead of become a fighter. I want to help people, you know? Not just turn into another monster like he was."

Susan had seen body language like this from adults, men with dark pasts and heavy choices. She pleaded with Hannah with her eyes.

Hannah clapped. "Well, you just met Mr. Draco Malfoy! Wasn't he pleasant!"

Even Hermione gave a light chuckle at that. "I... I probably shouldn't feel this way, but I am kind of grateful you did that Harry. That was the jerk who hurt my feelings in the bookstore."

She felt a slight pulse that was quickly gone again. "Well, we know that kind of treatment will NOT be happening at Hogwarts. No one should be treated like trash, like filth. It is not polite."

Thankfully, only slightly after that a trolley with candy arrived on the train. Happy to break the silence, Harry bought all kinds of treats and started pouring things randomly on the center table. "Hey, who likes free candy?"

Hannah giggled. "Oh that just sounds wrong... Like, 'Hey, I got candy child!' Sheesh."

Harry shrugged. "Never had wizarding candy before, so why not try some? I bought a bunch, so feel free to grab something."

The bushy girl shook her head. "Parents are dentists, candy is a big no-no in our house." Seeing the two witches confusion, she added "Non-magicals have to remove stuff from their teeth with tools and stuff since they don't have spells. Dentists verify that they did it right and fix it if they messed up or they need help."

Harry pointed "I could just replace all your teeth for you instead. That way you get all the candy you want and a perfect smile too."

She rolled her eyes. "Ok, that was a terrible mental image." She glanced at the animated covers on the candy. "Still, I am interested about what kind of candy wizards and witches eat..."

Susan pointed. "Avoid those, Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans can be anything. Grass, whatever. Oh, and those blood-pop's, eww. Those are for vampires, they are... well, you can guess." She just picked up a golden box. "Here, a chocolate frog. Just normal chocolate with a spell to make it look and act like a frog."

Harry made a face. "It doesn't feel pain, does it? I mean... I don't want to eat anything while it is still alive."

Susan AND Hannah paused while unwrapping their frogs. "Wow... I really wish you hadn't asked that." Susan put hers back, while Hannah thought some more, smiled, and took Susan's too.

Seeing the other looks she shrugged. "If I am going to eat something morally wrong, it might as well be delicious chocolate."

Harry tried to focus on non-animate treats. Licorice wands turned out to be safe enough.

~~~Core Threads~~~

After a while a tall boy had stopped by claiming to be a Slytherin Prefect. All four agreed that no wands had been drawn, no threats had been given, so there really wasn't anything the boy could do.

At this point Harry was feeling pretty sure that Slytherin would be a bad choice for him. He wish he had more positive examples of each house to work with, but so far it had been lacking.

Still, spending time with three nice girls was not a terrible way to spend time on a train.

Hermione seemed to be itching to ask a question, so Harry finally gave in. "Ok 'Mione, what is bothering you?"

She twitched her nose at the nick name but leaned forward. "So the mind-scape thing you told me about, can you bring me in to see it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Could I invite you into my brain?" He shrugged. "Sure, I think. It was pretty easy to bring in Aunt Petunia that one time. It does require a lot of trust though."

Harry leaned back. "Time moves faster in my mind. A minute in here can be hours in there. Also, I have a LOT of power there, near god like. And... well, it IS my inner world. If you wanted, you could hurt me pretty badly." He lazily looked at the other two interested witches. "I would also have to ask Jim if he is ok with it. If he fights, you girls could get hurt in there. Being bit by my guys doesn't bother me too much because they are using my own memories, but to outsiders who have never lived it before? It would be terrible."

Hermione seemed even more interested. "Jim? The book mentioned that avatars could be created after an Occlumens reached mastery, an alternate personality sort of."

He mentally looked at Jim who shrugged back. Neither of them FELT like personalities of the other.

"Anyway, how about a compromise. I will have Jim set off a section of my mind, the training area. We can go in there and see how good you girls are with thread magic." He waved his hand vaguely making a fireball appear where some cords spun, making them gasp. "It shouldn't take long for basic stuff. More interesting too, if you ask me."

Of the three, Susan seemed the most hesitant. "How... How long would we be there?"

Harry shrugged. "I can have Jim pull us out whenever. He has a team manning Snail Quarters, so we should be good."

"... Snail Quarters?"

He nodded. "Jim likes Snails."

Hermione was becoming slightly nervous about trying to visit now.


	20. Meeting of the Minds

Harry dropped into his world and got to work. He erected some thick green cable posts around the training/testing area, created a grid of cords. Green grids of ropes with a thick net of threads finished the job of sealing it in. The rock floor was fine, although he recreated the interior of the train car near one of the walls to give the girls somewhere to arrive.

After hearing a faint quack he sighed and created a tiny door through the wall for Duck Passage. Jim gave him a nod as he waddled in and sat at a duck sized seat Harry added to the compartment.

Feeling that the place looked about as nice as he could get it, he partially returned to the real world... oh.

This was odd. He now thought at the speed of his mind scape while watching the world from his body.

Everything was moving in slow motion.

He made a mental note of this. It would ROCK for fights and stuff. For now he threw a rope to the core of each of the girls, and began pulling them back in. As the orange thread reached his mind, he directed it into the seat in the fake train car... Oh.

Looking away he waved a hand and wrapped her in clothing. He forgot how the first time he had reached his mind scape he had not bothered with clothing. It was two years ago after all.

He didn't bother to look as he wrapped the other two bright threads in nice shirts and pants as well. Each had blue jeans, but their shirts matched their thread color.

As he felt their power stabilize he tried to control his blush while Jim snickered away. Stupid duck.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione watched as Harry's eyes closed. As he began to glow, she felt a tug, like she was a little girl and her daddy was pulling her hand to go to the zoo. The world faded as she followed it... Right back to her seat.

She looked at Susan and Hannah... oh. Well, now they were on the other side. They were also wearing some fairly close fitting shirts, bright purple and blue. Looking down, she saw a very orange shirt on her... huh.

But where was Harry?

Looking around her mouth dropped. They were sitting in the train car... but the car sort of stopped. The rest of the room was open to a huge space, with a smooth stone floor and a moon in the sky, a deep green mesh surrounding the area and trailing into the distance.

"Sorry about the clothing thing, forgot about that."

She turned and saw Harry wearing a white shirt and jeans and a VERY red face. Clothing? Wait...

Her glare could have melted mountains. "Harry James Potter, what did you do to our clothing?"

That seemed to have jump started the brains of the other two girls, who were very rapidly catching up to the "Let's glare at Harry" stage of recovery.

It seemed to make his blush worse. "Uh... So I first came to my mind at the age of 8. I was the only one here, so it didn't matter to me back then that I was... um. Look, I didn't see much, as soon as I noticed I turned around and gave you clothing."

Hermione's foot started tapping. "Much?"

"QUAAAACK!"

The girls all turned in shock, barely registering Harry's comments. On the table of the compartment next to ramp was a tiny seat with a baby duck.

Said duck was rolling on the table quacking.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY JIM!"

They turned to Harry, and he seemed close to crying. Hermione inwardly sighed, it was really hard to stay angry at him. "Harry, we know you didn't do it on purpose." She tried to get Susan to support her.

Susan was busy.

"Harry, you have a duck on your table."

Oddly this seemed to only make the duck laugh harder. Harry pulled himself together, then stood next to the clearly too happy duckling. "Everyone, this is Jim. Jim, this is Hannah, Susan, and ..."

"QUACK!"

Harry blushed so red his hair should have probably changed. "SHUT UP JIM!" He waved his hand and a glase dome covered the quacking duck. "Just... Just ignore him. He gets like this sometimes."

Susan was thankfully back with the program now. "So... No, I can't do this. Harry, you STILL have a duck on your table."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I... well. I was eight, see?" He couldn't meet anyone's eyes at this point. "I had never really had a friend before, or had anyone smile at me or anything. But I saw a baby duck before. So, when I made this place I made Jim. He is my friend."

Harry couldn't see his guests or their suspiciously wet eyes. "So... yeah. He is a good guy, you just got to hang out with him a bit. Always was there for me."

Hannah cleared her throat. "So... Is this green thing your threads?"

He wiped an eye and gave a huge grin. "Yep! In fact, you should be able to see your OWN threads here, since I can in my mind and you are here. Just imagine that you have your wands with you."

Hermione quickly swiped her eyes clear with her sleeve and imagined the feeling of her wand, the way it looked the... oh. She was already holding it. Her eyes widened as she saw brown threads in the wand reaching down her arm, across her chest... oh wow. Her core was beautiful. Orange like a fuzzy peach. LOTS of tiny threads, waving around like they were saying hi.

She felt Harry touch her shoulder and she turned. He was amazing! His core was wiggling like a dancer, thick ropes and coils, his skin seemed covered in threads and ropes vibrated in his arms. "WOW! How did... Look Susan!"

Susan had been mesmerized by her purple core. It didn't have a LOT of threads, but the few it had were pretty thick. She even had one rope that seemed to be keeping time with her heart. Turning to Harry was an experience. "Harry, you could be one of those muggle lava lamps or something."

Hannah thought her core was awfully smooth. It only had about three threads, and they were so small. "I... I guess I won't be able to do this, will I?" She tried not to sniffle. She had known she wasn't as powerful as Susan, but it still hurt. She leaned into her friend when Susan wrapped her into a hug.

Harry leaned close. "I don't see why not. How many ropes do you want?"

She stared. "Uh. I don't know. Three?"

He shrugged. "Sure." He held his hand forward, and a HUGE CABLE of power wrapped her up.

It was like being wrapped in warm towels. She felt like she should be in terrible pain, but something was just... it all felt warm.

As Harry released her, for some reason blushing pretty heavily, she looked down. Her core was now almost a perfect sphere, instead of the lopsided thing it was before. It was covered in tiny threads like Hermione, and three HUGE ropes now twitched with her heart.

Her smile was huge. She wrapped Harry in a hug, "THANKS HARRY!"

He coughed. "Uh... we have one more thing to do." She let go and looked at him, ignoring the quiet whispering of the two girls behind her.

He pointed at her wand. "You can't feel your wand now, right?"

She looked like her world had broken. As quick as he could he raised his hands. "NO NO, don't worry. I told you I can use any wand I want, right? Your wand wants to connect to your core a certain way, and the better the connection the more 'compatible' the wand is." He pointed at the brown threads that were bouncing off her spherical core. "I stabilized your core a lot, so the original weaknesses and stuff are not there that existed when you picked your wand." He grabbed the end of her wand, and she watched green threads wrapping the brown ones. As they traveled up her arm, it felt like someone rubbing her arm with a fluffy towel.

He grinned. "Now, if we just make some connection points in your new core, your wand can be a PERFECT match, maybe even better than when we started!" As he finished the sentence she felt like someone had kissed her side. The green thread had just pushed her wand's power into her core, and it felt almost... well, naughty. No wonder he had blushed before.

He desperately tried to ignore Hannah when she winked after the fourth connection. He had to do this to two more girls? God, he was going to be blushing for a month.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Three blushing 11 year olds later and they all had three strong ropes and a good number of threads.

As far as he could tell, they all had some control over the ropes, but the threads just sort of danced with their emotions. Maybe if this had been done when they were younger? They also didn't seem to be able to change the rope thickness. Still they were all excited... God his blush.

Back on topic, they were eager to start practicing.

Harry waved a hand, creating three cloth turtles with huge cute eyes. "Ok, practice makes perfect in this case. As far as I can tell, wands give you precision by doing a lot of this stuff for you automatically. It controls your magic for you, it pulls it out for you, and it controls what the magic does." He pointed at his own wand. "It also gives you a good amount of precision that is really hard to do without a wand, let me tell ya."

He pointed at the turtles. "Job one: Lift the turtle."

The three (Slightly blushing) girls were now all staring at the boy as he held his hand out. A rope about the thickness as theirs rushed down his arm, out his hand, and pierced the toy. At their shocked cry, he raised the other hand. "Don't worry, it is pure magic. As you can see..." He pulled the turtle to them so they could see it undamaged. "The rope works with intention. I didn't want to stab it, so when it hit the turtle it wrapped in threads instead." He tossed it back with the others.

Pointing at his arm, he continued. "The first couple of times you move a rope through a limb, it burns. Your body will be changing automatically to allow that large amount of magic through a body part that has never felt it before. It shouldn't hurt for you though, since I made sure to saturate your body with a certain amount of my magic earlier." MERLIN it was hard to stop blushing.

Jim had thankfully wandered off earlier in the training process. He would probably be mocking Harry later for the blushes, he had no doubt.

Hermione was the first to get it. She spent a good amount of time just moving all three ropes around her body, learning how to control each one individually and getting rid of the tingly feeling when it passed through her arms or legs. After that it only took a single try. Susan and Hannah quickly followed her example. Every once in a while they would look over and see Harry... seriously, it was amazing. His threads were everywhere, ESPECIALLY on the back of his left hand. Ropes? Heck, he had cords, CABLES of power.

Draco had been far luckier than they had thought that he had walked away. Well, sort of walked.

Susan was hooked. Her body felt better than it had in a while after that... experience of being wrapped in magic. In fact, she felt just slightly taller... and her skin was much clearer than she had remembered. But this thread stuff felt amazing. It was like some part of her was finally being scratched, that she had found some toy that had been her favorite as a child but somehow had gotten misplaced.

Accidental Magic? No, this was PURE magic. The connection between her power and the world had never felt so clear, and even as she felt more of a connection than she had ever had before with her wand, it didn't feel as WARM as when she moved her ropes.

She grinned as she waved a hand, making her turtle act like it was swimming. Her Aunt would flip, do spins, come back and flip again. Wandless Levitation? Half the spells out there were about forcing you to drop your wand or lose the ability to use it. Now even if she couldn't move, she could move things... wow.

Hannah was giggling as she began fighting her turtle against Hermione when she suddenly remembered the train. She waved over at Harry. "Hey Harry, how long have we been in here? I don't want people thinking we passed out or anything."

Without looking at the group he pointed up. "That is a fake moon. I made it to help me keep track of time outside of here." He seemed to be twisting some sort of sheet in his hands. "According to it, we have been here... uh." He looked at the wall. "HEY JIM, How long have we been here?"

"Quack!"

"Thanks!" Harry turned toward the girls. "Around 22 minutes. We have lots of time if you wanna practice something harder." Suddenly he got a grin. "Hey, wanna learn how to make fire?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Shortly after showing them how to twist two of their ropes together, Harry started throwing random targets in the air. If anyone was annoyed that the targets had pictures of Draco's face on it, no one was saying anything.

Hermione hurled another fireball. "Oh, close miss 'Mione. Try guiding it with your third rope." She looked at Harry startled before a HUGE grin crossed her face. A moment later a Draco plate was being chased by three fireballs, one on each of Hermione's orange ropes.

As soon as Hannah and Susan saw how much fun she was having there were a total of nine fireballs being guided toward a WALL of hurled Draco plates.

Harry was having the time of his life. Who said girls couldn't have fun? Fireball accuracy contests ROCKED!

~~~Core Threads~~~

"Quack."

Harry looked up as the girls paused. They had each been trying to make the duck launcher when Jim had interrupted. Hermione was the most annoyed since she had felt REALLY close that last time. Well, she had accidentally created a fire lance when the tube collapsed instead of sealing, but everyone agreed it was awesome anyway.

He sighed. "Girls, it was a fun few days, but we are getting close to Hogwarts. We gotta head back and get ready." He listened to their complaints. "I know, but it was fun, right?"

Three slightly grumpy nods and Harry gently pushed their magic back out of his mind.

As Hermione woke, she felt odd. She was slightly taller, her teeth felt... smaller. Her hair was MUCH less bushy. She looked over and saw confused looks on the other two girls as well. "Harry, I think... I think we changed a bit."

Harry stretched. "Considering how much magic has changed in each of you, I am not surprised." He blushed again. "And when I saturated you while setting up the ropes, if you had subconscious things about yourself that you wanted changed, it is really possible that you were altered then. Remember you were basically submerged in raw magic for a few seconds."

He pointed at himself. "When I first did it, I grew a LOT. Most of my bones got rebuilt since they were so sick, heck I changed almost completely. It may be why I am so conductive to magic now, because of how much my body had to change to heal me."

He walked out into the hall. "Well, go ahead and get changed first. We have to put on robes, right?"

Hermione grinned as she waved a hand, watching the door closed. "Nice try, but no peeking allowed."

The girls giggled, ignoring his protests in the hall. Teasing Harry had become fun over the last few days... hours? Whatever. Mind time was odd.

Soon they allowed a red faced Harry to get dressed with only a LITTLE teasing. After all, Hogwarts awaited!


	21. Arrived and Sorted

The kids were ready when they heard a voice: "Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage, it will be taken care of."

Hermione placed hers on the luggage rack before pressing the crest and expanding it to full size. Harry just moved his to hand storage, as he tried to follow along with the conversation. Apparently there was some sport called "Quidditch" which was very popular in the school, although he was not entirely sure why. Apparently two teams would alternate trying to score 10 point shots with a ball, while two other obstacle balls tried to knock everyone off. During the whole game, two OTHER players played hide and seek with a tiny golden ball, the winner of that game would give their team 150 points and stop all play.

Harry's criticisms were not welcomed. He eventually just nodded with their arguments, although the game itself sounded pretty rough. As far as he could tell, there COULDN'T be a close game. If a team was close (Like 100 to 100) then the only players that mattered are these 'Seekers'. If one team was ahead, the other team had to make sure to stay within 150 points and (again) pray for their 'Seeker' to win for them. If the game got beyond 150 points apart, then BOTH teams prayed for ANY 'Seeker' to end the stupid thing.

Needless to say, he was really only supported by Hermione, who was far enough from the culture to give it an outsider's opinion on the subject.

The conversation did do SOMETHING good. Harry was much too distracted to really get nervous about his new home.

The girls would randomly move on to talk about the skills they had practiced in "Harry's World" as they called it. Apparently it didn't translate perfectly to the real world, as Hermione quickly found trying to levitate a candy wrapper. Harry had told some stories about his first adventures with his powers, and how it took MUCH practice before he could do stuff nearly as well in the waking world as he could in his mind.

Hermione tried to not shiver when Harry's eyes seemed to pierce her as he watched her try to lift the wrapper. She couldn't see the threads like in his mind, but she could feel the warmth in her arm and had a vague feeling about where the other two ropes were in her chest. She met Susan's eyes and could see that both of them REALLY wanted to learn how to control this in the real world like they could in the testing area.

Their conversation was stopped as the train reached the destination. Hermione moved to the right side of Harry, while Susan and Hannah followed closely behind, not wanting to be separated. She watched as other students, some their size or older, unconsciously moved aside from their group as they stepped out on a fairly small, dimly lit train platform.

"Al'right ya littles, All Firs' years over here!"

Harry was taken back by the size of the man. Huge, especially compared to the tiny first years gathering around him. Yes, Huge was so descriptive it may as well have been his name, as a shaggy bearded man with kind eyes towered over the kids on the platform.

"Right you lot, everyone here? Hey, stay close now, everyone together. FIRS' YEARS!"

The green-eyed boy caught up with reality and grabbed Hermione's hand, feeling Susan and Hannah follow behind. The towering man was guiding all the younger boys and girls down a fairly steep path. Harry had to steady Susan with a rope at one point when she almost slipped, but they managed to make it down the slope.

The light was really fading now, but the mass of children had reached some thick trees and the edge of a lake. Harry's group had started to ignore the large man's fairly repetitive conversation (It narrowed down to "Everyone follow me" really), when they caught sight of a vast castle.

Hogwarts was marvelous. As the stars were coming through the black sky, the castle seemed to thrust from the ground in defiance to the cold air and black shadows. Light poured from all the windows, a bright light that clearly was fire and not some more modern convenience. With the flames inside creating light, the entire structure seemed to have a heart-beat, as if to welcome all students.

Tall stone walls led to spindly turrets. A multitude of towers rose up, as if the entire castle was a complicated crown that some king had forgotten to wear today.

Harry moved as he felt Hermione tug on his hand.

"Ok ye lot, no more than four to a boat for ya!" The bearded man paused and patted a slightly fearful boy who was clutching a toad. "Now now, ol' Hagrid won't let nothing happen to ye lad. Just a nice boat ride." He stood tall again and shuttled the children closer to the waters and a collection of finely crafted and worn wood boats.

Harry helped Hermione, Susan, and Hannah into a boat, two ropes holding the boat steady and a couple holding their hands. He grinned when Hannah thanked him on the way past and jumped in, ignoring their shrieks until Hermione swatted his shoulder. "Honestly Harry, the water must be freezing. DON'T even joke about dumping us in."

His grin was not helping convince anyone of his innocence, but he gave it a good try.

Hagrid watched the last of his charges get in a boat before he stood tall in his and waved. "Everyone good? Right. FORWARD!"

The boats moved like on rails, carving into the solid black surface of the lake without leaving a ripple. Everyone got really quiet as they could hear the soft sounds of nature on the shore passing farther away, and the stars in the sky were reflected on the water.

The castle seemed to get larger and larger the closer they got to the other side, and Harry had to tilt his head so far back he almost felt like he was falling up, into the sky where the towers lived.

As the reached a cliff covered in Ivy, Hagrid gave a good loud "Everyone, Heads down!" as boats started to pass through it into some giant cave. Harry didn't bother. If a man as tall as him didn't even have to crouch, why duck? The vines moved around their boat, guided by his ropes.

The cave was mostly natural except for a dock on the far side. It moved from a rocky texture into smooth stone the closer to the wood piers they got, and Harry could see natural crystals in the wall that glowed as they passed.

The boats unloaded in batches, each one vanishing as the last person got out. Harry jumped out of their boat, pulling himself to shore with two thick cords of power, before turning and offering hands to his companions. As Susan left, the boat vanished with the others... would he be able to make temporary boats? Or were they moved somewhere till needed?

The students were all herded along the stone corridors. As they moved farther, deeper under the castle, Harry watched the walls become more and more touched by man, until they were clearly stones bound together into the tunnel that now spiraled upwards. Finally they came up to a huge rock that Hagrid pressed his hand against and whispered some words.

A tiny hole expanded into a majestic archway, Easily twelve feet tall and over that wide. The path opened onto damp grass... and wow, this castle was tall. The wall they were now close to seemed to go up forever, and the students got even quieter, as if the wrong word would make the walls fall on top of them.

Everyone followed Hagrid to a huge set of wooden doors, maybe oak? Massive in scale, even Hagrid didn't make it half way up it. He clearly was counting children and verifying we all had made it, before turning and giving a huge set of thuds on the castle entrance.

Harry's face glowed as he recognized Professor McGonagall. She and Hagrid had a few short words before she waved her wand, both doors opening wide and she turned to them. "This way little ones." She moved everyone into a smaller chamber to the side of the entrance, thick tapestries on the walls and a strong stone floor.

As she left, children FREAKED OUT. Apparently GHOSTS were not something anyone thought they should warn the kids about.

Harry fairly firmly insisted to three giggling girls that he was just doing a rare form of echolocation, and had not "Squeaked in fear."

He chose to believe they bought it.

After they left, Hermione gripped Harry's hand tighter. Her excitement had given way for nervousness back before the boats, but Harry seemed so in control it gave her a feeling of support. She had also held hands with Hannah in the boat, which had seemed to help both of them. It was all so beautiful, but it brought back old fears... of not having friends, of not knowing where she was or what to do. She hated not knowing how to act.

Hannah and Susan seemed alright. They had probably heard stories of the school and had some idea of what to expect.

She tried to remember everything she had read about the place, only stopping when she felt Harry squeeze her hand and realizing she had been mumbling things out loud.

Harry leaned into the group. "Ok, everyone relax. No matter where we all get sorted, we can still be friends, right?" The less frightened nods helped him feel better too, like something in his stomach relaxed. "Now, I think a couple of you may have missed some stuff Professor McGonagall had been saying, so here is the short recap. We will be sorted into a house, which will be like a family I guess. We will go to classes with them, have the same dormitory, and have access to their common rooms."

Harry ran his left hand through his hair. "If we are not in the same house, we can meet up in the library and make plans. I will ask about what rules exist about having friends in other houses, and if the rules suck I will probably break them." He ignored Hermione's indigent remarks about that with a grin. "So lets have fun and get some dinner. Right?"

Three girls gave much less nervous nods and they tried to focus on the rest of the first years. There was some sort of fight about to start between a young red-head child and the obnoxious boy they had met earlier, but it was interrupted when the Professor returned. She seemed slightly harried, but still stern.

"All right, form a line everyone." She began moving everyone into something resembling order. "Again, follow me and listen for your name."

She led group to a large pair of double doors into what was clearly the "Great Hall". Harry absently marked the entrance with a thread as he stared upwards with the rest of the first years at the large room filled with floating candles. The wax vanished as it dripped, thankfully, but the light seemed to fade away into the ceiling... which was the sky. Stars flickered above the students.

He barely heard Hermione's whisper. "It took many witches and wizards weeks to do the ceiling, to make it look like outside. There was a whole section about it in Hogwarts: A History. I really wanted to do something like this at home."

Harry leaned back. "I was going to focus on more useful stuff, but I think you just sold me. My bedroom looks like a sky, but it is just paint... I NEED to find this out."

They were interrupted by the whispers of the students around them. There were four tables, the outermost two glaring at each other when not gossiping about the new years. Clearly there was conflict between the two. Golden plates and goblets were on all four tables, but they were empty. He looked at the front of the line and saw Professor McGonagall placing an old leathery wizards hat on top of a wooden stool.

Bloody hell, the hat could sing.

Badly, but still, a singing hat, right?

Harry barely listened to the lyrics, imagining singing shoes, shirts, pants... well, maybe not pants, that could get embarrassing pretty quickly, but singing socks? Why not? He saw how torn the hat was. Did it tear first and someone enchanted it, or was the tear designed to make it easier to blend in as an old hat?

Hermione whispered, "Oh thank goodness, we only have to put on a hat. I was SO worried we would be tested, or something."

He reached back and squeezed her hand. He remember how nervous he had been back when he joined D in his school, even though he had already memorized the texts.

McGonagall had started quieting everyone down. "Everyone, thank you. Now, I call your name, please sit down on the stool to be sorted." She looked at some parchment. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Susan gave her a hug while Harry and Hermione patted her shoulder as she passed. She walked to the front of the line, had the hat sit on her head... "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right clapped along with Susan, Harry, and Hermione. They received a few looks, but Harry knew he had to get used to that eventually anyway. Hannah moved to the table, glancing at Harry when she neared Hufflepuff's ghost, apparently called "Fat Friar".

He tried not to blush. Ghosts should be on the damn student letter, in big bold "WATCH OUT, GHOSTS" print.

Before they could really do much they heard "Bones, Susan!"

They both squeezed the redhead's shoulder as she passed, head held high.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Susan had a huge grin as she quickly moved and sat next to Hannah, the two hugging and giving a couple of whispers.

Hermione was holding his hand a bit too tightly now, but he put up with it. They ignored the next few names as Harry tried to calm her.

"Granger, Hermione!"

She gave him a quick hug before walking to the front, placing the hat on her head. The had paused for a few seconds... thirty seconds...

"RAVENCLAW!" Hermione gave a tiny squeal and sat at the table on the left, so that Hannah and Susan were directly behind her. Harry smiled at her and gave a thumbs up.

Just after Sally-Anne Perks, his number came up.

"Potter, Harry!"

The hall went silent until Harry stepped out of line. He calmly walked to the front, letting Jim catalogued comments as he passed and who said them.

"Potter? Did she say Potter?" "Where is his scar?" "THE Harry Potter?" "Wow he is fit."

Harry sat on the chair before he noticed Professor McGonagall seemed frozen. His eyes widened, he had not told her he was going to get taller before she had left last month. He gave a grin. "May I have the hat now Professor?"

She seemed to snap out of it before hesitantly placing on his head. He thought he heard her mutter something like "Heck of a growth spurt." before the world went dark.

The darkness was total. This was not the brim of the hat, he could feel threads of power entering his eyes, ears, nose... it felt like his head was drifting through a cloud. As it reached his inner world, he felt it try to pass his cloud layers before... well, it sort of knocked.

He gave the proverbial nod to Jim, and a voice echoed as the power reached his inner world.

"Well Well, Mr. Potter. You have had quite a life."

"I assume this is the hat talking?"

"Well, sort of. I am much like the portraits you will be seeing around the castle. A personality imprint if you will, of one of the founders."

"And you sort the students?"

Harry could feel a smugness. "Yes. Clever, no? I do try to do a good job of course, but every once in a while I grab students who could fit in any house and push them into good old Gryffindor."

Harry smirked. "So... Godric Gryffindor then?"

He felt a nod. "Salazar was much more into potions than school affairs really. And Helga spent her time with food related magic. Loved that woman's cooking. Ravenclaw helped me set up the enchantments, you know how she loved her books."

Harry shrugged. "Nothing wrong with a good book. So is there some sort of time dilation or something? I don't know how you could have these conversations so quickly with the other kids."

The hat seemed to grin. "Nope. Most kids are too scared about the sorting process, or have normal levels of magic. I need to use the power of the person I sit on to enable the higher thinking processes of my personality. Most children, especially 11 year olds, well... you know how your core was before you began training."

Harry nodded. "I assume you don't share secrets?"

"Goodness no. It is partly why us founders could stand each other, we tried to stay out of each others way. Any preference where you want to go? You have good traits to all of them, especially Slytherin and Gryffindor. Ambitious doesn't even begin to describe you, and bravery helped you get this far."

Harry wiggled on the chair. "Pretty sure I would end up hurting someone in Slytherin. And did you know Ravenclaw has a library?"

"Ha! Say no more, I recognize a good book lover. Enjoy your time in RAVENCLAW!"

There was a bit of a pause before lots of kids clapped as Harry lifted the hat and handed it to Professor McGonagall. She had an expression that... well, she expected it but didn't like it, clearly. Meanwhile a very tiny man at the long table seemed to be bursting with happiness.

Harry turned back to the Hall and saw some HARSH looks from the table with green motif going on. So it would be wise to sit in the inside of the Ravenclaw table, to be a distance from them... not like he had to think. He moved passed well wishers and questioning looks as he sat next to an almost bouncing Hermione who gave him another hug.

"OH Harry I was so worried it was taking so long and I thought you would be going somewhere else and I wouldn't get to see you and..."

Harry squeezed her shoulders. "BREATH Hermione." He looked around the table, smiling at the faces that ranged from hesitant questioning and confused smiles. Apparently not all the first-generation wizards and witches knew about him... thank goodness.

A brown haired boy leaned forward. "Hello Harry, my name is Robert Hilliard, a fifth year Prefect. Like I was telling Hermione, you can follow us to the dorms after dinner ends."

Harry turned to his other side and held his hand out to an indian girl who seemed slightly lost. "Hey, my name is Harry Potter, and this is my friend Hermone Granger." He didn't see her blush, to her relief.

The black haired girl gave a hesitant smile. "My.. My name is Padma. Padma Patil." She pointed at a very similar looking girl on the far table. "My sister Parvati was sorted into Gryffindor... I thought we would be here together."

Harry gave her hand a good shake. "Well, there is no reason you can't still hang out, right? Hermione and I have two other good friends that are now Hufflepuff, and we are not going to let some robe colors and a table keep us from helping each other."

Padma's smile seemed a bit brighter as the dinner moved on. She talked with Hermione a bit about her plans for the year, but before any real conversation could start the sorting seemed to have wrapped up.

Harry had not really paid attention to the table at the front, and he didn't feel like bothering too much right now anyway. He was hungry, emotionally a bit drained, and eager when he found that the last student had been sorted.

An incredibly old man... probably Albus Dumbledore? Well, he had stood up and was smiling at everyone. "Welcome!"

Everyone waited.

For a while.

Eventually Professor McGonagall gave an embarrassed elbow to his side and he seemed to notice everyone was waiting for something. "What a treat, a new year at Hogwarts. Before we eat, I would like to say a few words... but oh well." He sat down with an absent hand wave and everyone stared at him again.

There were a few hesitant claps before everyone decided "Food? Sure" and the students realized that at some point during that sentence the tables were filled with food. Harry was stunned at the large amounts of potatoes (Boiled, roasted, ried, etc), meats (Steak, pork, chicken, you name it), and side items (Don't even get him started). He grabbed small samples of most of it, passing plates back and forth as people asked.

He wasn't sure how he felt about Hogwarts so far, but it was most certainly interesting.


	22. End of Feast

The overwhelming amounts of food eventually became less interesting to the mass of children as Harry's attention was pulled back to the teacher's table. There seemed to be some sort of argument building between Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore. The other teachers were just watching in a mixture of amusement and horror as the old man was cutting up some pie with the edge of a fairly large sword.

Harry leaned in and grabbed Robert's attention. "So... is Dumbledore... alright?"

"Wha?" Robert lifted his head from his own dessert, seeming to notice for the first time that a stern woman in black was trying to disarm a grandpa with a much too long beard. "Oh that. Well, they say the really rich and the really powerful go a bit odd." He watched as Dumbledore somehow smacked a terrified man with a purple turban with the flat of the sword while trying to get more pie. "Let's just say Professor Dumbledore is VERY powerful and leave it at that."

Slightly confused at how everyone was just accepting old people fighting for pie, Harry gave a quick overview of the rest of the teachers... at least, he assumed they were teachers. Hagrid was apparently enjoying half of a chicken in one hand and a huge hunk of bread in the other, the tiny person (His new classmates had mentioned he was Professor Flitwick, their head of house), a really greasy looking fellow who seemed to be glaring at...

"QUACK!"

GOD HIS HEAD. Harry quickly turned away and retreated to his mind.

Hermione and Padma both felt the boy next to them jerk as if slapped and turned to see his eyes fade, like the light had vanished from his eyes. "Ha... Harry?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry entered his world... And there was damage EVERYWHERE. The ground had scorch marks as if struck by lightning, a few duck houses had been destroyed, but the major damage had been done to the sky.

His green eyes surveyed the sky. All the chains holding his duplicate memories had snapped from strain, apparently trying to hold back whatever that greasy man had done when trying to get in. Several clouds were damaged, and the sky was now FILLED as the carefully stacked towers had collapsed into each other.

His gaze turned hard as he turned. All teams were lined up, Jim at the lead.

"Report."

"Quack."

That was bad. Thankfully no ducks had been killed in the attack, but the damage to the village had been... well, all of this was unacceptable.

"Looks like hiding the entrance helped, but we can not allow this kind of damage again. Any suggestions?"

Jim turned to his teams and they quietly conversed. Harry tried to stay calm as he watched Snail Quarters being repaired. Finally he felt small teeth pull at a pant leg.

"Quack? Quack."

"More defenses would probably help, but I can't go with that. I like having grass and a clear sky. I refuse to destroy my inner world building defenses."

A duck on the edge of the group hesitantly raised a wing. Jim moved close and the two quacked a bit.

"Quack?"

Green eyes widened a bit before turning contemplative. Decoys had a real possibility. But he felt like he needed someone in here, not just on security. Harry sat back into a chair that just appeared on the grass, with dozens of tiny eyes watching him, waiting for orders. A wave of his hand and Jim was in a similar seat, both looking at the lake.

"Jim, this scared me. I have never felt someone trying to force their way in here. I didn't even think it was a possibility."

Jim nodded as he patted Harry's hand.

"At the same time, I can't spend all my time watching out for people, waiting to be attacked. I have fun stuff to do with my life." His hands shook slightly as he straightened his hair. "Do you think I should make another personality like you? Would you mind?"

Jim tilted his head and was quiet a bit. "Quack. Quack?" He nodded toward the general direction of the library. "Quack?"

Harry leaned back a bit more. Jim seemed to want to handle the mental defenses, but had suggested an interesting idea to lessen his troops workload. A personality to directly control his library was a very good idea. New memories took time to sort, time to take care of. Some had to be enhanced with data from other thoughts or memories, and other ones needed to be duplicated for multiple shelves. The ducks tried their best, but they were short... several cooking memories had been stored under "Zoo" since it was closer to the ground and some teams got lazy.

According to Jim, many of his troops had been sorting all the new information when Harry had been attacked, which had caused the delayed response time. Harry surveyed damage again, watching as it was being healed. Some ducks were using the cloud control ropes of magic to repair non-cloud injuries... very clever. But he needed something more.

This world had been created from nothing really, and it was all just representations of his mind, of how he thought. If he wanted, he could probably build strong walls, thick domes, or whatever. But then he couldn't lay on the grass and watch the clouds. What was the point of protecting something if it destroyed what he wanted to protect?

His thought process paused. He could duplicate memories, clouds, and ducks... what was so different about his mind?

Harry walked deep into the golden lake and sat cross-legged. Bringing his hands down to rest in his lap, he began to focus.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Filius Flitwick had gone from ecstatic to concerned VERY quickly. He might have missed the whole situation if he hadn't been watching Lily's son and his new Claw right when the boy had looked at them. Harry had jerked like the hand of God had slapped him and he had almost collapsed at his seat.

Flitwick's eyes gained a tint of red. Unless he was VERY wrong, then someone had just tried to get into the boy's mind. He began subtly watching the other teachers. Most likely it was either Quirrell or Snape, based on the way the two were glaring at the child. Of course, Professor Quirrell HAD just been smacked with a broadsword by Albus, so the glaring may be unintentional.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry finally was calming down, surrounded by the warmth of the golden lake. As he focused, he felt himself fading, the world fading. Finally he opened his eyes.

Before him was his inner world, surrounded by a green glowing mist. Raising his right hand he watched as the world began shrinking, twisting, falling into itself as it collapsed into a blowing green and blue bubble in his palm.

As the crystal like bubble rested in his hand, Harry smiled... then his face froze.

"Uh... Jim?"

Very distantly, he heard a 'Quack'. Thankfully it didn't SOUND angry or like he had been huffing helium.

"Nothing! I mean, it's not like I forgot you guys were... I mean, everything is going as expected."

There was a significant pause before the second 'Quack', and this one sounded annoyed.

Harry felt nothing really as he floated in fog. He wasn't sure how long he stared at his mental world... it was so beautiful, all tiny like this. Because of how large the grasslands were, the only landmark you could see at this scale was the golden lake... ocean? Whatever.

He pulled at the bubble, which felt like cool glass to his skin. A copy appeared... or was it? It felt like the same world, but in two places. Harry frowned. There was no point in trying to make distractions if ALL the distractions had real copies of his mind.

Before he vanished the copy, he paused. Maybe a total backup would be wise. It would be easier in the future to just wipe a copy and replace it instead of healing his mind each time. He grabbed the copy with a cord and floated it behind him so he could ignore it for now.

His eyes contemplated his mental world. He needed a copy that contained nothing, one that had all the structure but none of the data... Hmm.

A grin crossed his face as he waved a hand, and a tiny cloud inside his mental world was duplicated and brought to the surface. A quick squeeze in his threads and he now held another copy of his mind... sort of. His left hand now held his MEMORY of holding the world. Breaking into it would show you... him holding it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Harry began to chuckle as he started duplicating the memory and allowing all the worlds to float around him.

~~~Core Threads~~~

The green fog was now FILLED with bubbles. As far as the eye could see, thousands... no, MILLIONS of bubbles. They floated above and below Harry, they had orbits and bounced off each other. It was beautiful, as light from inside each of the crystals created rainbows and sparkles through the others.

He turned his eye back to the Backup, as he thought of it. Harry surrounded it with memories of metal, of thorns, of sharp teeth, of poison. Fears and anxieties were woven into the shell, paranoia orbited it. When he felt it was protected, he focused and squeezed it down to the size of a grape.

Harry felt his power connecting to the tiny bubble, binding it to his mental world. Now every day (Or when Jim requested it) his mental world would add a new grape to his Backup, a new copy of his mental world. If he ever suffered heavy mental damage, if someone tried to take something from him, he should find it here, just in case.

With an almost tender motion he then wrapped the backup in a memory of his mental world, like all the other glistening gems floating around the green mist. At least from the outside, it would be identical to the other bubbles, floating randomly in a sea of crystals.

It was at this point Harry was pinched on the arm.

~~~Core Threads~~~

"OW!"

Anyone at the Ravenclaw table who HADN'T been staring at Harry was now watching the boy glare at his brown-haired and bushy friend. "Mione... What the heck!"

The girls just seemed relieved. Hermione seemed to shrink as she realized how many people were now staring in her direction. "Ah... oh. Sorry Harry, you were worrying us... I mean..."

Harry sighed and rubbed his arm. "No problem I guess. How long was I out? I didn't mean to stay in there so long."

Hermione noticed Padma's expression. "Harry has this... uh." She looked around, noticing how large her audience was. Looking at Harry, she gave him a questioning look.

He nodded. "We will tell you later Padma. Hermione, Susan, Hannah and I are going to be meeting up at the library tomorrow, if you want we can talk then."

Padma nodded with a small grin. Ravenclaws did like libraries after all.

A boy across the table raised an eyebrow. "Those are the two Hufflepuffs, right?" He noticed Harry's confused look and reached out. "Name is Terry Boot, Harry. How did you convince two puffs to head to the library? Sounds like a claw thing if I ever heard of one."

Harry shrugged. "We met on the train, and they are nice girls. I am actually hoping to make a study group, or even a research group if they are into it."

Terry wiped his hands on a napkin. "Well, would you have room for another person? I don't mind studying alone, but it always was more fun to study with my friends back home."

Hermione grinned and gave Harry a quick glance. He seemed better, eyes bright again. That had scared her a little, how dim his eyes had turned. Suddenly she realized those eyes were staring in her direction. "Uh.. Sorry, what Harry?"

"I was asking what you needed my attention for? I assume it was more than just 'I wanna pinch Harry', right?"

She blushed as she swatted his shoulder. "You were out of it and I think the teachers are about to give announcements soon."

Almost on cue, they heard a dinging from the teacher's table. It seemed someone had disarmed Professor Dumbledore, thankfully, and Professor McGonagall was trying to gather attention. "Everyone, please listen."

As the noise lowered to a dull roar, she continued. "A few things before we head off to bed. First years should note that the forest is off limits. There are some very lethal animals in there that only students with advanced training in 'Care of Magical Creatures' should handle."

She seemed to REALLY glare at two red haired children at her table. "Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would also like to remind you all again that no magic should be used in the corridors. It can cause people to trip or otherwise get hurt, especially near the magical staircases."

Her eyes gained a bit of a glow. "Quidditch trials will also be held in the second week of the term. Please contact Madam Hooch if you wish to try out for your house team."

Albus Dumbledore suddenly stood, and everyone paused. "On a side note, everyone should go checkout the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side of the staircase." The staff seemed shocked. VERY shocked. Thankfully Albus seemed to notice Professor McGonagall holding her face in her hand and reviewed his words.

"Oh. Hang on, let me try that again." He took a deep breath. "Everyone should NOT go check that corridor out." He nodded.

Some heckler in Slythern called out, "Which is it? What is in there?"

Dumbledore shrugged. "Not really sure anymore. The last person didn't stop screaming long enough for me to find out."

Everyone sort of paused before Professor McGonagall gently pushed the wizard back into his seat. Turning to the students again, Harry could almost FEEL her ignoring everything that had just happened. "Now I know it is pretty late so all First Years follow your house's Prefect and they will lead you to your rooms." She was half pulled down so Dumbledore could whisper to her. "NO we are not singing that bloody song again. Not until you pick a single tune. I am still not convinced it IS the school song."

Thankfully that argument got harder to hear as everyone gathered around various Prefects. Robert gathered the other first years together and they began walking out of the hall.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry laid in his new bed, exhausted. As soon as the group had left the hall, he had been glad he had left threads at major doorways as they walked. How the heck were students supposed to find the Great Hall again if they couldn't mark places like Harry? They didn't have a map or anything!

He would have to make exploration a major priority this first year, if he wanted to last 7 years in this crazy place.

There had also been SEVERAL hidden passages they had traveled, which Harry had carefully marked with threads and tagged in his memory. The stair cases moved, the paintings were asleep but seemed ALIVE, he swore he saw some armor wave at him... this place NEEDED to be explored.

It was like seeing a puppy, it just HAD to be petted or else the world felt wrong.

He wasn't happy with door security though. Apparently you had to answer riddles that an eagle asked to get in. That was... very insecure. And kind of insulting to the other houses... "You can't answer riddles a first year Ravenclaw can" seemed mean.

Yes, security would be one of his first priorities to learn about.

He had barely looked around the common room, OR the dorms. He knew there were other children in here, also falling apart from too much food and being up too late. Right now, he just wanted some sleep.

The boy fell into slumber almost as soon as his body relaxed. He was so grateful that class didn't start till Monday. Since tomorrow was Saturday, he felt like he NEEDED the time to settle in.


	23. Gaining Wisdom and Visiting the Library

In a world of green mist existed millions of bubbles.

In one of those bubbles existed a golden lake surrounded by grass under a blue sky.

Under that grass was a frustrated young boy and a laughing duck.

"SHUT UP JIM! It was... I mean, it was my first try, ok?"

The duck just kept pointing at a vaguely humanoid pile on the floor as he quacked with laughter.

Harry kept grumbling as he tried again. He had thought after making Jim it would be easy to make a librarian. Someone to keep everything organized. And who would know better what to do than Harry himself, right? Just make himself in his mind!

Nope. Collecting ALL memories of himself just made a Harry puppet, who tended to laugh once then collapse into THAT thing.

He was missing something BASIC, he knew it. Something that he had done correctly with Jim but was failing on here.

Ignoring the laughing quacks that kept bubbling up behind him, Harry lifted the duplicate into the air with his ropes. It felt right, had all the right organs and stuff (He was not sure how important organs were in the mind but felt it was worth a shot). What it seemed to be missing was that spark, that something that... oh.

It needed a spirit. A soul. SOMETHING to give it life.

He turned his eyes on Jim and examined him much closer. Despite him laughing at Harry, he could see something... Protecting? Protectiveness... Self preservation. That was it, he had loaded his personal ability, his own desire for being safe into Jim.

That probably explained him building an army and always being on guard, honestly.

So what would be logical in a Librarian?

He wrapped the body with his power, and tried to push emotions into his thread. Random things, deep thoughts, anything that had that feeling of WANTING to know more. When he had seen Dudley's presents when he was very young, wanting to know what was in them. When he saw that family hug their daughter, wanting to know what a hug was like. Wanting to know why this had happen to him. Wanting to know why his family was not alive any more. Why he always felt like he was fighting alone. Why no one had come looking for him when he had been under those stairs.

The boy felt a soft hand wipe a tear from his face as his eyes opened. In front of him was a tall woman, who looked like the first librarian he had ever seen as a child... but her eyes glowed green. She smiled. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter."

He smiled back, trying to find his balance. "So... I assume you are a part of me?"

She nodded. "I am your thirst for knowledge." She gave a sly grin. "And your desire for acceptance, for family." She straightened, looking at the huge purple library and the stacks of unsorted memories. Her eyes glowed green as her smile took on an eager twist. "And right now, I believe I have quite a job ahead of me."

He examined her more closely. She had black hair like his, but it was tied into a bun. She had thin glasses and a nice outfit, although it was mostly black. He almost bit his tongue as he saw her wave a green rope at him while another one lifted a scroll. Apparently he had given her thread access as well.

She held up the scroll. "Would you like me to build your mental maps as well? I can also suggest texts for you that may be helpful for you to learn."

Harry slid deeper into a chair. Tired did not even BEGIN to describe how exhausted he had become. "Please, that would be great. Did you have a name?"

She shrugged. "Unlike Jim, I am composed mostly from your personality, memories of a librarian, and your power. I am a part of you. Just call me Wisdom, if you must."

Harry was actually starting to fall asleep in his chair. "Th... Thank you Wisdom. Please take care of this place, my knowledge and memories are the most important things I have."

He felt her pull a soft cover over him. "I know, Harry. If I need anything I will let Jim know and he will pass it to you, alright?"

She watched him as he tried to answer before falling asleep. Turning to Jim, she waved the duck to a side aisle. Getting down closer to his level, she glared at him.

"You were mis-shelving things on purpose, weren't you."

Jim gave the most innocent whistle ever.

She sighed. "Well, I suppose it is done. He would have made me if you just asked you know. You could have just mentioned that you hate sorting memories. Harry is a good kid."

"Quack."

"Fair enough. I will try to convince him to make a few more mental aspects. At least one for his dark side." She seemed to be looking through the world. "His aggression needs an outlet, the lake is repressing it very well but you felt how it got out on the train. I know he has already considered it once or twice, so I will keep moving those suggestions closer to the font of his mind."

Jim gave an amused look that Wisdom waved off. "You know I have his best at heart. Unlike some ducks who just don't like using ramps when sorting memories."

It was pretty amusing watching a duck act sheepish.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry woke slowly. Somehow he still felt like he had levitated a train. His whole body felt a certain level of weakness, and his thickest threads looked drained. Apparently building a mental representation of an Aspect was... quite a difficult procedure. 'Hey, Jim. Wisdom doing ok?'

'Quack.'

'Is she up? Heck, does she sleep?'

'Qua... Move out the way, Jim, he is talking to me. Hey Harry, got most of the memories already sorted. The castle map will take longer though, it seems that ALL the rooms are moving slowly in different directions.'

Harry paused. He had been moving his trunk to the foot of his bed and starting his morning routine, but now he felt... odd. He had never slept in a house that had moving rooms. 'We are safe though, right?'

'Yep. I was playing with the threads you anchored yesterday in the castle, and I found out that if we send extra power down one we can feel what is around it, like the Red Network. I sorted that knowledge into the essential shelf, so it should be almost subconscious to you now.'

He pulsed the Great Hall and could feel a few people passing through the door. That could be VERY useful. 'I will have to mark more places with thread then. Could you help Jim set up another room in Snail Q to monitor these markers?'

'No problem. I will need your help later though, I don't have permission to alter the whole world bubble like you do.'

Harry had just finished brushing his teeth. 'Uh... Why would you want to?'

He could almost feel the eye-roll. 'Well, when you repaired the damage you accidentally wiped out the testing area. I figure you will be bringing the girls in here again?'

He nodded.

'Well, we have the backup system now. Set off a backup of the world so I am safe, then you can just invite them into your mind proper. I can keep an eye on anyone who wanders where they shouldn't, especially with Jim's help.'

'What if they try to get into somewhere they shouldn't?'

'Quack.'

'Thanks Jim.'

Harry looked over the room once more. The bed had sky blue silk sheets, the walls were a soft white, and the roof in the entire tower looked like a starry sky. He loved it even more now that he was awake.

With another futile attempt to make his hair NOT look insane, he moved down to the common room to wait for Hermione and Padma. They had mentioned going to breakfast together, and no one else seemed to be up this early anyway. He idly leaned back and opened his master book, deciding to read more about runes.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione gave up on her hair. Bushy was the new in thing... or at least, it better be if she wanted to be in. With a soft sigh she wandered downstairs, with only a few dozen books in her bottomless pouch. They WERE going to the main library after breakfast, so heavy reading could wait.

As she reached the common room she paused. There was Harry, leaned back on the couch with that strange black book again. She was curious, but didn't want to bother him... what if she drove him off like her other friends? She sat on the other end of the couch and re-opened her potion book. She had already memorized it, but darn it she had a goal. Number one, period. Hopefully.

Padma grinned as she saw the two readers lost to the world. "Come ON, breakfast waits for no dragon! Or something."

Harry grinned and stood. At some point the book had vanished and he seemed eager to go. "I think I know the way, although I would like to schedule exploration as soon as possible." Seeing Hermione's expression he waved a hand. "I know, I know, you would rather read... but let me ask you this, do you know how to find all our classes?"

Wide eyes of horror had her quickly on her feat and heading to the door. "What are you two waiting for? Places to see, places to see!"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Padma was SO thankful she had followed Harry today. They had gone upstairs, sideways, into a room with no doors and under a desk... and were now in the Great Hall.

People who had left almost 10 minutes before the group even left were just now arriving.

She turned to the boy who was now eating what appeared to be a small amount of EVERYTHING on the table. "Ok, HOW did you do that?"

"Do what?" Harry put some butter and pickles on some bacon, ignoring people's expressions.

Hermione was enjoying some fruit, but paused while eating some melon. "Harry, I am pretty sure we didn't go that way last night. HOW did you find your way here so quickly?"

Harry pointed at two redheads at the Gryffindor table. "Remember how those two were singled out last night?" He saw their nods. "I tagged them with threads so I could keep track of where they were. Didn't want them sneaking up on me." He leaned forward. "They go EVERYWHERE! I must have felt over twenty secret passages last night. Took Wisdom forever to map them all."

Padma wiggled a bit closer so it would be harder to overhear. "Wisdom? Who is that?"

He shrugged. "Last night I turned my feelings of wanting to know stuff into a person. Wisdom is the librarian of my memories, thoughts, etc. She also handles the maps."

'Quack.'

Harry nodded to the girls confusion. "Jim clarified: She MAKES and MAINTAINS the maps, Jim still handles security."

Hermione was now eating much slower. "So... why is a part of you a woman?"

He ate some peaches wrapped in a pancake. "She looks very similar to the first librarian I ever met." He looked away, as if seeing something far off. "She... well, when I was very young, I used to pretend that my mom looked like her. Never saw a picture of my parents back then, you know? So smart and pretty woman, I just pretended." He didn't seem to notice the reactions of the girls.

"Anyway, Wisdom has done an awesome job so far. With her around I don't even mind letting some of you into my library. She can duplicate anything you want to look at, so you won't damage it."

"HARRY!"

They turned to see Terry Boot huffing as he tried to catch his breath. "Morning Terry!"

"Morning!? How did you get down here so fast!" He seemed to collapse onto the bench and began gathering some breakfast. "I saw you leave the common room and couldn't seem to catch up!"

Harry shrugged, finishing his breakfast. "Learned some shortcuts. This place is FILLED with secret passages. I haven't even started looking yet and I found a few by accident."

As Terry seemed fully involved with his breakfast, Harry and the girls talked about the new dorms, how they slept and so forth. Seeing Terry finish, Harry grinned. "Now that we all seem to be ready, who wants to go to the library?"

Like expected of true Ravenclaws, the table was empty pretty quickly.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry now left threads at most intersections as they moved toward the library. Or at least, wandered aimless while asking everyone if they were heading the correct way to get to the library. He didn't think he would need this many marks, but it wasn't hurting him to leave a few threads here and there.

The halls had many color schemes, rug designs, cloths on the wall. The paintings were numerous, and Harry had to be dragged away from the first one he got a really good look at. Paintings could move between frames, could remember and pass messages, so the entity in the frame had SOME sort of data storage.

Terry finally opened a topic that had been bothering him. "So Harry, what gave you the idea to do this group thing anyway?"

Harry refocused on the boy, who tried not to shiver seeing those green eyes pierce him. They had a real intimidation factor. "Well, I have a bit of a dream." His smile seemed almost devious. "I plan on doing just enough work to pass all my classes... and then LEARN EVERYTHING."

Terry blinked. "I... what?"

Harry waved a hand. "As far as I can tell, most witches and wizards just learn what a set list of spells per year. I don't see anything about spell creation, experimentation, or exploration. Well that is just memorization. Hermione and I have already memorized ALL the texts for this year."

His smile seemed to get sharper somehow. "Now, while everyone else wastes time catching up with us, we are going to try and learn Game Changer abilities."

Even Hermione seemed a bit confused on this. Harry shook his head. "I will go into more detail once we pick up Susan and Hannah, but the idea is to find abilities that help us learn faster, work faster, or accomplish more than expected."

He looked around a corner. If he didn't have his threads he would have thought they had turned around somehow... This castle really needed a map. "For example, I have an ability that lets me work in my mind while sleeping. I can study, organize my mind, or just relax. That gives me back 8 hours a day to read or whatever."

Hermione tried not to grin at the stunned expressions of Padma and Terry. "He also can pull other people into his mind, and time moves faster there. We spent an hour or two in there on the train and it felt like days had passed."

Harry blushed. "Yeah, uh. We should have the whole clothes thing figured out by the way. Shouldn't be any issues next time."

Terry closed his mouth after a few seconds. "You know, I want to ask but I am not sure I want to know." He saw Harry's face turn as red as Hermione's and he grinned. "Bet it was funny though."

"Awkward as heck at least." Harry grumbled. "Jim wouldn't stop laughing at me either." Hermione was back to grinning as Harry's face stayed red.

Padma twirled some of her hair. "Jim? Is he in Hufflepuff too?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nope, in his head. Nice person, although don't talk about his height."

Harry coughed. "Moving on, I figure it may be a good idea to spend some time in my mind scape and help you guys make your own. Especially after what happened last night."

Seeing his dark expression everyone talked about other topics. Quidditch was apparently a big deal everywhere.

~~~Core Threads~~~

"FINALLY!" Terry walked up to a huge set of wooden doors. "I thought we would NEVE..."

"SHHH!" A woman who looked very similar to a pale faced owl was very silently but EXPRESSIVLY suggesting with her eyebrows that Terry should re-evaluate his life and consider what he had done that was so wrong, so vile as to have made noise in her world.

A much quieter group of relieved Ravenclaws moved through the doors. The library was so tall that it felt dangerous to look up, as if the shelves were looming over you and waiting till you looked away to drop. shelves of books were everywhere without any major section labels. The air felt rich with dust and the smell of paper.

Harry could have sworn Hermione whimpered.

He saw red hair at a table near some windows and moved everyone in that direction. Making sure to whisper, he grinned. "Hannah, Susan! Glad you are here so early."

Two smiles turned a bit hesitant as they saw two strangers. Harry pulled Terry forward. "Meet our new study friends, Terry Boot..." He nudged Hermione who pulled Padma forward "And Padma Patil. We met them at dinner last night."

A quick round of quiet introductions later and Susan noticed Harry seemed to be tapping something against his palm. "Harry, what is that?"

He refocused on Susan with a raised eyebrow before he noticed his hands. "Oh, I was thinking about trying out a spell I read about. It would really help us if it worked."

She shrugged. "Go for it. Just make sure you don't face us just in case it goes wrong."

Hanna watched as Harry lifted his hand and mumbled. As his hand finished a gesture, she felt a mint wind cross her body as sounds faded to murmuring.

There was a pause that Terry felt needed addressing. "Ok, what was THAT. Are we going deaf?"

Harry shook his head. "Shouldn't. That was from one my more esoteric books, Muffliato. People who are outside of our area can't hear us now. We will seem to be mumbling." He waved his hand absently. "Now we don't have to whisper. We should still be able to hear everyone outside though, unless I cast it inverted as well."

Hermione was about to start asking questions before Harry started writing on some paper... where had that come from? "One second, Mione, and I will write the book I got it from."

Susan was eye-balling the pen. "Now what is that?" She watched how quickly and easily he was writing. "It seems MUCH less messy than any quill I have used."

Harry handed a pad of paper to everyone at the table and a pen. "These are gel pens. Each one has the ink in internal chambers and keeps it from drying out till you need it. It can write at any angle, is water proof, and is much harder to break than a quill." He scowled. "We can't use it for homework or tests, but we can use them for our notes or rough drafts."

Terry was already doodling with a happy smile. "Why not? This is awesome."

Harry shrugged. "Our quills have a wand focus inside them, so that our wizard signatures are written into our ink. It is part of the anti-cheating stuff for the school. I guess since most students use them through school they continue using them in future jobs."

He leaned forward. "Ok, I talked about this a little earlier in the Halls, but here is what I am planning on doing. You can choose to join in or not, and I am fine with that." He grinned as he saw Hannah roll her eyes. "I am going to do just enough work to get all my homework and stuff done... and we are going to find Game Changer spells and abilities. Things that will help us be amazing."

Susan had a gleam in her eye. "Any examples?"

Harry nodded. "Well, I want all of you to try and learn how to make your own mind scape if possible. I know not everyone can, and Hermione told me that the Occlumency book I gave her doesn't do the same thing that I do." His eyes darkened. "I originally was going to focus on more basic stuff, like spells to copy papers for backup, spells to bind papers into books, spells to search books for terms and stuff. But last night changed my priorities."

Susan seemed to have slipped into some sort of professional persona. "I noticed you seemed out of it after dinner. What happened?"

His eyes went dark. "The greasy man at the teacher table attacked my mind."

Susan seemed stunned. "Wha... Really?" She quickly gathered herself. "I will have to get a message to my Aunt about this. It is hard to prove, but having multiple reports will help build a case against him. I think he is the Potions Professor, Severus Snape."

Hermione seemed shocked as well. "A teacher!? Oh... Oh Harry, are you sure?"

Harry nodded. "Jim was organizing my memories at the time, so we had few defenses. When you felt me zoning out I was rebuilding from the damage and creating fake duplicates of my mind to prevent this kind of thing in the future." He grinned. "I made millions of bubbles that look like my mind. If he tries again, he will have to spend years searching through them... And may Merlin help him if he pops one."

Padma looked up from some flower she was drawing on the paper pad. "What is inside them?"

His eyes took a hard green light. "Pain." The light seemed to darken. "A lot of it."

Terry pushed his pen and paper aside. "So what can I do to keep Snape out? I heard from some of the older kids that he is a really mean teacher."

Hermione dropped into her lecture voice. "He is probably preforming a wand-less, word-less Legilimency attack." She pulled out the Occlumency book Harry had pointed out to her. "It was covered here a bit. He has to look you in the eyes, and it is not nearly as strong as when you use a wand or say the spell."

Padma looked troubled. "How... how long does it take to protect yourself from this kind of attack?"

Hermione frowned. "Using the book's method, years. Part of the reason is that no one is able to help you practice unless they can use Legilimency to test your shields. But then again, Harry is not really doing Occlumency, as far as I can tell. Normal Occlumency doesn't speed up time for you, or work while you are asleep, or allow learning new abilities or changing your body from your mind scape."

Harry shrugged. "My method uses more magic. You know how I changed your cores to be more stable, and have more threads and stuff?" He saw confusion on Terry and Padma's face. "Ah, well, I can see magic like threads. I can change how other people's magic works, to allow them to use thread magic to some level, like this." Everyone's paper started moving in complex patterns while being chased by the pens. He shrugged at their astonishment. "I learned magic this way first. My wand came much later. Anyway, I stabilized their cores and gave them some ropes and threads of magic to work with."

He then pointed at his chest. "I personally have threads, ropes, cables, and cords of magic. MANY of them. But most witches and wizards have one, maybe two ropes. The threads all wrap around their core as far as I can tell. If the core wraps up completely, it seals up and you are a squib." He held out his wand, missing some of the odd looks it got from the others. "The wand uses the magic of animals and plants to force a thread or rope out of your core and into the wand itself, which is how you do magic. The wand focuses the magic." He tapped Hermione's arm and gestured towards her wand. She passed it with a look that pretty much informed him that NOTHING SHOULD HAPPEN TO IT.

"Now since I can control my threads and stuff, I can use any wand perfectly." He waved Hermione's wand, making sparks appear. "I also made sure that the girl's wands perfectly connected to their cores." He was blushing now and purposefully ignoring Hannah and the faces she was making.

Padma leaned in. "Well, why not give each of them a whole bunch of ropes and stuff like you?"

Harry sighed. "I noticed that if I added much more than I already did, then their core color started to go dimmer. Their magic can only handle so many ropes or threads, so I made sure to stay way into the safe range. In Hermione's case, since I reduced the number of threads, her magic actually got stronger." He nodded to Susan and Hannah. "Their magic stayed around the same strength, but it will be much easier to control and much more precise than before. All three can do some basic wand-less stuff now, or at least the stuff I discovered like the fire lance and grabbing stuff." He floated the wand back to Hermione who seemed pleased at the idea of having stronger magic.

Hannah raised a hand. "Since Harry fixed my core, my magic has been almost completely different. I used to always have to strain to cast any spells, like I was fighting myself." She wiped a tear away, grinning. "I slept better last night than I have in months, and I have never felt so close to my wand before."

Terry's eyebrows had risen quite high at this point. "So... Are you willing to check out our cores too?"

Harry shifted in his seat. "Uh. Sure... just. Ok, so it feels weird." He was trying to ignore the giggling from the other girls and Padma's eyebrow raise. "I didn't really expect it when it happened, but it was... well..."

Padma leaned over to Hannah. "Did it hurt?"

She smiled. "Nope! Although that might be why Harry feels so awkward about it." Her smile got bigger as Harry avoided her eyes. "Felt quite lovely, really." The other two girls nodded.

Terry might as well give his eyebrows away, since they had risen off his face at this point. "You sly dog."

Harry could have been a tomato. "Hush you. I didn't expect it, I had never touched someone's core before. I think I used far too much magic to do it."

Hermione checked the time. "Harry, do you have a way of keeping track in your mind about what time it is out here?"

Desperate to move onto a new topic, he nodded. "Wisdom found a spell called Tempus that should work great for this." He waved his tiny wand in an even smaller motion, and green glowing date and time floated. "I can keep this up for a few days, so no issues about us losing track of time."

He reached with a rope from his chest and connected it to the working spell, pulling it away from his wand and floating it over the table. When he looked up he saw everyone's faces in shock.

"What?"


	24. Don't Mind my Mind

So apparently changing the source of power for a spell from a wand to wand-less magic was SO unheard of, everyone just sort of... stopped. Mentally.

Harry sighed. Thank goodness he had learned these unwritten rules BEFORE classes started. Snapping his fingers to get everyone focusing AWAY from the clock in the middle of the table, Harry grinned. "Ok, just so we are clear on this, everyone wants to come along, right?"

Three firm nods (And two hesitant ones) later and Harry reached out for a small thread from each child.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Padma felt odd, like she was being pulled along by the hand, by someone trying to keep her from slipping on stones just after rainfall.

As the world faded into view she gasped. All around her were bubbles of light, glistening like raindrops, as far as she could see. Green mist was being swirled as the orbs rotated, bounced off each other, and orbited in complex patterns.

Around her she saw colors fading into view. Hermione in an orange shirt, Susan in purple, Hannah in blue, Terry in yellow... she looked down. She was now wearing some tight pants and a pink shirt... and it was awfully form fitting. Not too tight, but not exactly loose either.

Determined to not make a huge deal out of this, she looked around for Harry.

Hermione tapped her shoulder. "Over there, I think."

He was relaxing on a bed of bubbles, flicking them out to bounce and make bright dinging noises as they clanged away into the distance. His lazy smile seemed to light the fog. "Everyone ready? Unlike last time, this will be different. Before, I brought you all into a special section of my mind just to protect myself."

He stood as the bubbles floated back into the mix before waving a hand. One bubble that looked like all the others floated in from below the floor. "Now however, I found out how to backup my mind. I don't have to worry about anyone accidentally damaging it, so everyone can come on in."

Terry seemed concerned. "What if we find out something you don't want us to know?"

Green eyes seemed to dim. "Anything dangerous should be locked away. If someone or something tells you to back off, I would do so." They focused almost too sharply for Terry's comfort. "My defenses may not be impressive to some, but don't underestimate them. They are DESIGNED to be underestimated, so heed my warning. Jim is a nice person, but he will protect me."

Getting several nods of acknowledgment, Harry waved everyone closer. "Now, everyone touch this particular bubble. At the current time compression rate I believe we have about... well, I am not really sure. If I was by myself, I would say around a day per fifteen minutes. However when we did this before, it was like a day every... I don't know, forty five? Hour? Time acts weird here. It seems to change based on how rested I am, how many people come in, and what we are doing."

Several sets of hands touched the jewel like bubble, which felt like slightly wet stone.

Susan looked up when she smelled lily flowers. They sky was full of tall, fluffy clouds... her shoes had somehow vanished, and her toes were in rich soil and soft green grass. The grass seemed to go on forever...

There was a golden lake, one that acted like sunset was continuously making it golden and soft.

And there was... Oh. Well, she guessed that Jim lived in the village near the giant golden snail.

Terry was first to start. "Harry... Is there a village of ducks in your mind?"

Several eyes turned to the boy, who was sitting on a bench near the lake. "More like a military academy of ducks, but yeah. Happened when I was younger, if that makes it easier for you to handle mentally."

Padma smiled. "I like ducks!" Her smile faltered a little when the eyes turned her way.

Harry on the other hand had a huge smile. "I KNOW, Right? Ducks are awesome."

"Quack."

Terry stared at the duck with military shades sitting next to Harry.

Hermione waved.

"Hey Jim! Everything going alright?"

"Quack."

Hermione, Susan, and Hannah turned to Harry. He seemed confused... oh. "Sorry, he said 'Yes'." He shook his head. "Well, he actually said a lot more than that, but it took me a few years to get the lingo down. The longer version was something a bit insulting to non-snail-eating giants who don't pay nearly enough respect to upstanding vampire-duck kind."

Everyone's eyes turned to Jim. He shrugged.

Seeing a duck shrugged seemed to somehow make everything worse.

Harry clapped. "SO, we are all currently in Hogwart's Library, in my head. Who wants to see the library in my head which is currently in a Library?"

Padma raised a hand. "Can the duck come?"

Jim gave a wings up to Harry. "Oh, he likes you. Everyone to the Purple room!"

Everyone followed Harry (Some experiencing various levels of 'This is neat' and 'What have I gotten myself into') as he began wandering apparently aimlessly into the grass.

Before they had gone far, Padma raised her hand (The one not currently carrying Jim... when had he hitched a ride?). "Harry, can you check my core really quickly? I want to do the moving stuff thing."

He paused, and turned, his eyes glowing a deep and bright green, like gems. "Sure, this shouldn't take too long." He pointed at her chest. "Go ahead and take a look. Here, everyone should see threads now."

Padma looked down and... oh wow. Inside her was what looked like a pink puzzle piece, shaped like a strange bean. There was a HUGE rope that seemed to go off into the distance, and a few tiny threads. She looked up and almost jumped, unaware Harry had gotten so close to her.

He hummed. "This line..." His hand touched the rope. Her mind suddenly filled with memories of Parvati, her sweet sister. The years of hugs, eating ice-cream under the stars, seeing their first balloon... Harry grinned. "I think this is a connection between you and your sister, Padma."

She didn't even realize she was smiling until Harry smiled back. "Well, clearly we will have to keep that going. I think you are strong enough to have three additional ropes, so you can learn the stuff that the other girls are. I will just have to cut back on the number of threads. Is that alright?"

She nodded. Padma was not sure why, but this connection was important. It should be protected... and thankfully she could somehow feel that Harry understood that.

Harry tried to ignore Hannah's giggling. Seriously, that girl was TRYING to make him blush. "Ok, this part is the easy one."

Before Padma could ask anything she looked at Harry and saw a WALL of green cords coming towards her.

It felt like the wind was blowing through her hair, her body wrapped in covers on a snow covered beach, warm and toasty with crisp air flowing in her lungs. Her body felt like it was relaxing, like unknown stresses were put aside... and more, she could FEEL her sister more, like she was closer to her heart.

As the feelings faded she realized that Susan was looking worried. After a questioning look she pointed at Padma's eye... oh. She was crying. "It's... no, I don't feel bad, it... like I got my sister back somehow. You know?"

Harry seemed more winded somehow. "Wow... that... huh. That was more of a drain than I thought it would be."

Padma looked at her core... it was now four ropes strong, although the one leading off was now looking more like a cord than a rope. The pink sphere was not as fuzzy as Hermione's or Hannah's, but the ropes looked thicker and seemed to move roughly as she willed them.

Hearing a slight cough, she looked up. Harry was being poked by the other tree girls, with them whispering something. "Fine fine, I know." He looked in Padma's general direction. "Padma, the second part of this is kind of... well, this is the awkward part. Since I stabilized your core, your old wand won't work anymore most likely."

She looked in shock at her wand... wait, was she holding it before? It was like thinking about it made it appear. Before she could get too worried, Harry coughed again. "So I can make your old wand connect to your healed core now... but um..."

His blush was nearing atomic at this point. "Well, it feels a bit odd, this part."

Padma looked over his shoulder where three girls were giving her the thumbs up and nodding, then back to the blushing boy. "Sure Harry, what do you need to do this?"

He walked closer and wrapped his hand around the tip of her wand. She watched his arm as a green thread wrapped around the brown ones in her wand, following it as it twisted up her... oh. Her whole arm was getting warmer, like someone was breathing warm words of comfort as the threads worked its way up her limb. As it reached her shoulder, she suddenly realized exactly WHERE her core was and which direction this feeling was about to go. Looking at the other girls, she had a few seconds to gape at the grins on their faces before she had to hold in a squeak.

Harry almost jerked as he looked at her worried. "Are you ok? Did that hurt?"

Oh god, he was HOLDING it there while asking! "N.. No, just... I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

He still seemed confused by her reaction. "Are you sure?"

Oh merlin he better get on with this. "YES YES, by all magic yes."

As the green wrapped brown thread touched her core, it felt like someone had just kissed her stomach. Face blushing, she tried to avoid looking at anyone. "Um... how many threads are left?"

Harry wiped some sweat off his blushing face. "Uh... only about a dozen or so."

The other girls giggled at her 'Eeep' while Terry just seemed nervous. This looked FAR too painful for him, he would rather buy a new wand. Just look how red Padma was turning, this must hurt like the devil!

~~~Core Threads~~~

Several embarrassing minutes later, both Terry and Padma were ready to practice with their new core, although Terry refused to have his wand adjusted since it seemed to work semi-well. Harry really couldn't build up any urge to convince the boy otherwise... something about connecting the boys wand felt off to him.

Not to mention Hannah kept blushing when the topic was being discussed, which felt like a bad omen to Harry.

Levitating pillow ducks was entertaining for the two new thread users, although going against Harry was like having a water gun fight against an army of fire hoses.

The other girls were enjoying some "Draco Targeting", as Harry created discs of flammable wood with the boy's face on them and created moving targets for the gals to aim fire lances at. Harry himself was practicing creating Duck Tunnels, as the various troops were calling them.

Being able to make a rail gun was neat, but making rail guns QUICKLY could be awesome! Still, it was slow going at first since it took so long to make the smooth tube that accelerated the Flying Canaries (Whom had gotten MUCH better at broom flying after creating a harness to hold the broom under them).

The trick was to not make the smooth tube too LONG, else the duck would just vanish into the distance.

Needless to say, he still needed practice.

A few hours into this, Terry had just managed to grab his duck pillow with a yellow rope when he paused. "You know, I feel like we forgot something. Like, we had some other plan or objective when we started this walk."

Padma was busy fighting two stuffed ducks while her third rope was doodling in some sand Harry had made for her. "Like what? I mean, we got duck pillows."

Harry grinned. "Good point."

Hermione paused, fire glowing around her right arm. She could now control her orange flames really well in here. Burning Draco had been pretty good motivation... but something was off. "BOOKS!"

Padma, Hermione, and Terry all turned to face Harry, who was absently creating smooth tubes with his left arm and his right foot while laying in a chair. He blinked. "Oh... OH, right. Somehow we all got distracted when I wrapped Padma in... uh."

Hannah nudged Susan who rolled her eyes. Harry chose to move on with the conversation, as he stood and had the chair vanish. "MOVING ON, to the Library!"

Padma looked at the endless sea of grass. "So... where is it?"

Harry shrugged. "Here." Behind him a giant swath of grass lifted like a hinge, showing a white wood staircase leading into a white hall.

Terry stared at it. "Are you saying we were there the whole time?"

Harry started walking down the steps. "Nah, the entrance roams around. It is never in the same place often." He paused in front of a random white section of wall and knocked. "One Moment!"

Everyone except Jim and Harry looked at each other, confused. Harry noticed and nodded. "Ah, so everyone remembers Jim, right?"

Several nods and a few rolled eyes later, he continued. "Well, Jim and I had a bit of a discussion. It takes time for me to sort through all new information, like my currently being build map of the castle and stuff... and I don't really want to do that personally. So I took the best parts of me and created a librarian."

"Aww, you didn't need to sweet talk me Harry." The wall swung open, showing a dark purple room and a tall woman dressed like a librarian... but with Harry's deep green eyes. Her core was similar to his as well, although it looked like it was mostly threads, threads that lead back into the room she just left. She grinned at the stunned children. "Hello everyone, I am Harry's thirst for knowledge and his desire for learning. You may call me Wisdom."

After a few mumbled hellos, she grinned. "Now now, everyone come in and relax." She turned to Hermione. "You would probably LOVE to see Harry's language section. He has quite a collection. Oh, and the music section is nice as well if you stay clear of the more modern stuff."

Harry nodded. "Got lots of classical stuff, no horrible screeching or cursing in it. Very soothing when I am studding school work." He accepted a book Wisdom handed him and followed her in, feeling the others follow him. As they crowded into the room he barely glanced at it before settling into a huge squishy purple chair.

"Feel free to wander. There are sections on all kinds of topics, since I only have to view the pages once to make a copy of the book. Obviously I have not scanned ALL my new stuff in... how boring would life be if ALL my books were memorized, right? But I have picked up a few things over the years."

Wisdom passed Susan a book that seemed to be bound in green cloth. "You seemed interested in the Muffliato spell earlier today. This is Harry's memory about where he found it, what he knows about it, and his memory casting it. It should really help you pick it up as well."

She accepted it with a small smile, which Wisdom returned as she passed Terry a book as well. "This one Harry hasn't tried yet, but you may find interesting. It doesn't actually do anything but light your wand different colors, but the colors change based on wand motions. You can use it to perfect your casting ability, since you decided to not have your core tuned to your wand." Terry seemed to light up at the thought, and began rapidly turning pages looking for good stuff.

Harry had no clue where Hermione had gone, but he thought he had heard a squeal in the "Hogwart School Book" section. She must have found some of the books that he had bought that had been assigned to previous first years. The texts didn't change much, but he enjoyed reading the differences when bored.

Padma had a book that covered Harry's memories of ducks. He didn't want to say anything, but that was one of his favorites.

He settled into his chair, and began reading the book Wisdom had chosen... oh. Hogwarts Charter, rules and bylines. Great. Oh well, she had to have picked it for a good reason. Or she was teasing him. Whatever. He felt her ruffle his hair as she went back to the map room to continue updating it.

~~~Core Threads~~~

A few days later, Harry stretched. "Hey Jim, how long have we been in the mind?"

"Quack."

From several chairs (All purple of course) heads raised to look at Harry. "Oh, he said about 4 hours. It is getting close to lunch time, anyone want to take a quick break for it? We can work on building your individual mind world when we get back."

He got a few nods. They had taken time bouncing between practicing thread control, reading in the library, and watching some of Harry's special clouds (He had one that was really important, the FIRST movie he had ever seen. It had even been in a theater!).

Watching the movie through his memories was interesting, since they could make fake seats for them to sit in to make it feel like they were there too. He had introduced the three 'pure-bloods' (Susan, Padma, and Terry) to memories of his favorite popcorn and soda, so they had something to much on during the film. Even Wisdom watched with them, which made it kind of special to Harry. She may only be a part of him, but she did represent his desire for family... and his friends really made him feel special.

However the call of food (And a bathroom break) was enough to get everyone moving off the couch and back outside to the grasslands. As Harry turned to his friends, he grinned. "Ok, I have set this up with Jim so it should be fun. To get out of here, just think 'I want to go home' and take a big step backwards."

He watched with a strange sense of loss as one by one his friends returned to their bodies. He knew they were just a few feet away... but having someone in his mind, so close to his heart... it had felt nice.

He felt Wisdom give him a hug from behind, and he leaned back into her. "I... I want to let someone see everything one day. Even the bad places." Wisdom nodded and hugged him. She didn't say anything, and he didn't need anything said... they just were quiet together before he left.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Padma stretched. Her limbs SHOULD feel sore and locked up, after not moving for four or so hours. Instead her body felt refreshed, like she was somehow more HERSELF than she had been in a while. She felt balanced. Looking down, she missed seeing the pink threads and her core. She could still sort of feel the ropes, but the threads might as well be gone in the waking world. Her clothing also felt a bit tighter... oh.

Hermione nudged her shoulder. "Yeah, something like this happened to us too. When Harry covers you in magic, your body fixes stuff that bothers you. It fixed my teeth, my hair got less bushy, I got a bit taller. Things that never really bothered me too much were just... different." She shrugged with a grin. "Not like I am complaining or anything."

Terry grinned as he looked at his more defined muscles. "No kidding." He wasn't larger, but it was clear he had lost some of his baby fat around his arms and neck.

Harry's eyes seemed to brighten, as if he was checking back in. He stretched as he stood and wiped his hand through the air, breaking the spell muffling them. "Well, I say lunch is in order. Shall we?"

A few nods and everyone followed Harry out. Terry had talked with Hannah and Susan a day or so ago in mind space and had mentioned how Harry had been building one HECK of a mental map of the school. Either that or he was a ghost, since he had beaten Terry to breakfast.

Three turns, one magical painting and a tunnel later and they were standing in the Great Hall, most of the party confused and happy that they had gotten here... even if they had headed in the opposite direction for half the time.

Terry of course was still irked. "HOW did we get down to the ground floor? We climbed UP three flights of stairs and we STARTED at the Library."

Harry shrugged as he sat at the Hufflepuff table. "Magic of course. Pass the ham, would you?"

A confused puff passed the dish to Harry while his group absently sat around him. Eventually one of the older students leaned in. "Excuse me Harry, did you get the right table? Ravenclaw is one more over you know."

His green eyes glinted with a grin. "Yep! Turns out in the rules that we only have to be at our House tables during the big stuff, like opening and leaving feasts. Plus I want to make friends with people in the other houses, and we all have to eat sometime, right?"

"Indeed we do, Mr. Potter." A woman who seemed half grown was behind him. "For promoting inter-house relations, take 5 points to Ravenclaw." She turned to the other puffs. "And if you have friends my dears, feel free to eat with them too. We are the house of friendship and loyalty, after all." Some of the older kids were already glancing at significant others that were in other houses.

Harry grinned, and whispered to Susan. "Who is she? I like her."

"Professor Sprout, she is our Head of House and the teacher of Herbology." She grinned right back. "We all love her to pieces, and she knows all kinds of plant stuff."

Table conversation naturally degraded to Quidditch at some point, but Harry enjoyed being surrounded by laughter. He made a note to do this more often if he could... it felt like it was healing something inside.


	25. Protect Your Mind

Everyone was back in the library, spelled for privacy again. They had chosen a table hidden by some shelves this time... apparently some of the other Claw's had been curious about a bunch of children staring quietly for a few hours.

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "So... I am not really sure how I first made my mind scape. It happened when I filled my brain with magic and tried to repair damage when I was a kid." Susan noticed his hand was shaking slightly. "I am not sure how much magic I used, or the effects really. What I DO know is that much of my body has been altered or healed by my magic at one point or another."

He looked smaller than Susan was used to. Harry normally felt like a huge old tree, something that had always been there and knew why it existed... but right now he seemed unsure, far too young. She gave him a supporting smile which he was able to somewhat return.

Hermione gave him a quick hug. "Let's move onward Harry. If we can't reach our mind scape the way you did, can you help us?"

Harry hesitated... could he? 'Wisdom, what do you think?'

'Well, Jim and I talked about it for a few hours since this conversation started. If you pull one of their ropes into their mind and go with them, you can probably help them get started.'

Well, that wasn't perfect but it would be better than letting anyone just wander into his friend's minds. Harry gave a subtle nod. "Well, it will have to be done one person at a time, and it will probably be much different than mine." He leaned into the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Who wants to go first?"

Hermione had barely heard the question before her arm was in the air. "OOH ME! I want an internal library."

Terry was looking at Hermione like she was nuts. He turned to Hannah. "How many libraries does she want exactly? She has our homeroom, this library, even the one in Harry's head."

Hannah shrugged. "She's a claw. What did you expect?"

Hermione had already swapped seats with Padma to sit next to Harry. "Shush you guys, I want my books."

Harry was trying not to grin, but he was honestly looking forward to seeing what Hermione would build. He knew he loved books, but she was almost married to them. He reached a rope into her, gently wrapping his threads around her orange rope and leading both toward her brain.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Oh wow, that felt... interesting. As she looked into Harry's green eyes she felt a warmth just below her neck, as if a fuzzy scarf had been heated and wrapped around her. Keeping her face as calm as possible, she felt the heat rolling up her spine, closer...

As it reached her brain the world took on an orange haze before everything faded away.

She turned rapidly. She was waste deep in a deep orange ocean, one that seemed to have no floor. There was no sky, just orange fog... but she didn't feel scared. This was just how the world was.

To her left she saw a green glow build up. It grew like a crystal, layers after layer expanding and stretching. She drifted closer, watching the gem glow with a heartbeat. A sudden flash caused her to blink... Oh.

"Hey Harry. I guess we are here then?"

"Not sure really. I have a blindfold on." Oh. Yeah, it was a deep green one.

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "When I first came to my mind I didn't think to make clothing. Took me a few months to even consider it."

He heard an 'EEEP' and gave a small grin. "Yeah, anyway... anything you think of will appear here. Including clothing and tools and stuff." He tried to ignore the sounds of cloth rustling. "So... can I take off my blindfold?"

"Of... Yeah. Of course. Why shouldn't you?"

Harry pretended to not notice her massive blush or slightly ruffled clothing as he took his blindfold off.

He looked around. "Oooh, I like this." He looked into the water before his eyes got really wide and he quickly put his blindfold back on. "OOPS. Um. Ok, we need to have you make a place now."

Hermione floated near him. "Why the blindfold again?"

Harry's cheeks were blushing again. "Well, you haven't sorted or stored your memories... and this ocean is made of them."

Hermione looked down... oh. There was her in a princess dress... there was a neighbor dog... a leaf she had liked when younger...

Oh my. Thank goodness Harry was fast looking away. "So... what should I build?"

He shrugged. "I built what made me happy. Imagine a place that feels important or special to you."

She relaxed, floating in the sea. Special?

Drifting through her mind was her old room, back before they had to move to a bigger house. She didn't have bookshelves yet, just piles of books on her bed, on the floor, everywhere. When she was sad from kids teasing her, she would make stacks of books and just hide in the middle, like a fort. She had even put a blanket on top. She flinched a little remembering the names kids would call her, how mean they could be when she said something too mature or used words they hadn't heard before. The stupid arguments she would have...

When she won those arguments, they didn't want to be her friend. She wasn't good at being wrong, at letting others do better or try something if she felt she could do it better. Even when she expected the kids to be impressed with what she knew, like the adults were... they were just mad that she had out argued them.

The books had been there, when her friends left her.

She felt arms wrap her in a hug. She didn't open her eyes, she didn't even know when she had started crying... she was just grateful Harry had been there, here, when she felt so alone suddenly. At some point she realized he was talking... whispering things.

"...ok, you are ok, everything is safe, you are safe, just relax, nothing is wrong, everything is fine..."

She smiled through her tears and hugged him a bit tighter. Having a friend made the whole world seem brighter.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry rubbed her back until she stopped crying. He remembered years before his defeat of the daemon, dark years. Alone in the dark, in that hell, he had wanted someone to do this. To hug him, to tell him it would be fine. That someone cared. Not doing so now when he could feel her sadness was unthinkable.

As he felt her stop, he looked around. "Well, I must say I am still a bit surprised. You REALLY like books."

Hermione wiped her eyes and began looking around.

It was her cave! Towers of books made walls on all sides, with book stalactites and stalagmites of literature creating an odd feeling of wilderness. Well, wilderness made of books.

Harry helped her stand up, and they began to wander, not really saying anything. In the back of the cave was more and more novels, books, stories.

She reached a hand up and touched the spine of one of her favorite books when she was seven. The book seemed to fall into her hand, and a new book showed up behind it with a new topic.

"This... Oh Harry, this is amazing."

Harry grinned. "No, I have a feeling what will be amazing is what is OUTSIDE the cave."

Hermione followed Harry to the entrance... and stood stunned, mouth open.

Outside, a reading light was clearly acting as a sun. Her cave was part of a mountain, and before it was a huge forest... all made from books. Scrolls hung from the book-stack trees in vine form, a lake of loose-leaf paper was actually rippling from what appeared to be origami fish trying to eat paper folded flies.

Harry grinned. "Well, this place is... really neat. But I am not so sure you can get here when sleeping."

At Hermione's glance, he pointed downward. "See how your rope is connecting? Being here is using a good amount of your power. I would say you can spend about an hour or so of real world time here without a break. From what I can feel, time dilation isn't that much ether... two minutes here is about one out there, give or take. That may go up if you visit more often, like it did for me."

She gave him a desperate glance. "So how much time do I have left?"

He shrugged. "Right now I am feeding this place power from my core too. I think that is how you ended up with those paper fish, bugs, and those folded cranes." He pointed at what looked to be a bird in a nearby tree. It however was busy watching the fish.

"Anyway, feel free to start organizing. Don't try and sort all the books out here, just build someplace safe, and you can duplicate ALL the information out here in your new home." He pointed at one of the trees that looked sickly. "You can also contain things like that. If I had to guess, that tree is a collection of some of your bad memories."

She nodded. Even from this distance, she could feel that tree's presence. There were several of those in this forest.

Harry shrugged. "I personally built a room that represented the worst times of my life and placed all the bad stuff there, shrunken and marked with when and where it happened." He also pointed at one of the branches that seemed to be dripping. "You can also create containers and collect the goo from the really bad memories. That goo is emotions, and it lets you handle the memory without feeling anything once you wring the emotions out of the thought."

Hermione looked at her hands. "How come I can't see my threads here?"

Harry shrugged. "You could only seem them in my mind because I gave you guys access to my eyes while in my world. Your body doesn't have that skill... but you still have the ropes, just like always. You can practice control here just like in my head. It is more of a feeling thing here though."

He watched with a grin as she began lifting random books (Although she kept missing the target more than a few times, since she couldn't see her work now).

"So... I am just going to relax here while you build a house or something. Could I borrow a book to read?"

Hermione gestured absently. "I got plenty of them."

He coughed. "Well, some of these are books, but many are memories. I would feel better if you just handed me so I would KNOW I didn't see something you didn't mean me to. Especially since you haven't had a chance to decorate, as it were."

Settling into a chair of books with a copy of "Hogwarts: A history (And comments by Hermione)", her memory of reading her favorite book, Harry relaxed and tried to ignore the sounds of construction going on.

He didn't want to see what she was doing, as he knew the mind was a very personal place. If she needed him she would ask, and that was enough for Harry.

~~~Core Threads~~~

It was a half hour later, and Harry stood with a sigh. "Hermione, I need to get going. We have been here around 15 minutes."

"WHAT? No, I just got started..." Hermione looked at the foundation she had created. She was going for a castle she had always dreamed of as a child, but she was NOWHERE near completed.

"Yeah, but I can't just sit here, I have to get the others started."  
She got a look on her face that made him feel guilty inside... but he couldn't ignore his other friends. He paused... "Hey, how about we compromise? I could leave my connection here until you want to get rid of it, but leave mentally. That should give you power to keep on working until dinner-time, without me having to sit here."

Hermione gave him a HUGE hug. "Can you? Heck, could you just leave a connection to your mind in general so I could stop by if I have questions?"

He shifted. "Well, not permanently, I don't think. But I guess I could convert my body into a doorway, since one end of this rope is already in your mind I can just move the other one to my world." He gave her a surprisingly stern look. "Now, don't abuse this, ok? Leaving an opening into my mind... well, this is a big deal to me. I will be trusting you."

Hermione gave a subdued nod. She hadn't even thought about what she had asked for... and it made her feel good inside that he had accepted anyway. She had too much to do here anyway, since all the building blocks were made of books she had to use law texts and history books as bricks. Something really thick.

Harry saw here dropping back into design mode as she again began duplicating and lifting blocks of books into what seemed to be a giant foundation. He grinned, and began focusing on himself.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hannah was the first to realize Harry had started moving again. "Well how did it go? Everything was fine, right? Did it hurt?"

He laughed slightly. "Relax Hannah, breath. It went perfectly, and Hermione is working on her mind right now. There was no pain, but we did learn some stuff." He held up a hand and began counting off. "First of all, if I am not there Hermione can only go into her mind world herself for about an hour. Then her magic reserves empty and she needs a break. Secondly, I can provide power for her to stay as much as she likes, and we just found out that I can leave a connection without sitting around doing nothing."

He grinned at Terry. "As much as I like books, it was getting a bit dull waiting for OTHER people to finish stuff when I was not able to do anything."

Harry flicked another finger. "Thirdly, her world changed slight when she made it since I was there. She already has at least three types of wildlife, although none seem to be Jim level intelligence." He dropped the hand and leaned back. "Finally, I can change my presence into a doorway in people's mind and connect it into my world. Jim is monitoring my end now, so if she stops by when I am busy helping you guys he can let me know about it."

Padma seemed really interested at this point. "So... can I go next? I really want to see my world."

Harry sighed as the remainder of his friends began arguing about order. Now that they knew it was safe, going second was a huge priority for them. Still, it was hard to not be a bit excited himself... it felt like he was closer to Hermione than before, and he looked forward to connecting with the rest of his friends.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Two boys looked over a huge stone floor, filled with sticks and hoops.

"So Terry..."

"Yes Harry?"

"I notice you have a lot of Quidditch stuff here."

"Yes I do."

"Is that a Quidditch pitch?"

"Which one?"

"You know what, I am just going to head back. You good?"

Terry reached out, a golden broom appearing. "Oh yeah."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry and Padma were interrupted by an annoyed 'Quack'.

He paused, ducks falling out of his lap. "Uh... yes Jim?"

'Quack.'

He looked at Padma, who had wide eyes. "I have to go. Apparently I was in here for a while."

Padma sighed. "Well, too bad. I guess I have to build some safe place anyway. Want to help me clear a path through the kittens?"

Harry shook his head. "It took us thirty minutes to get through the puppy puddle, kitty canyon would take too long I am sure." He pushed various baby animals out of his lap. "I got to get going I guess." He looked longingly at the ocean of animals. "But I can come back some time, right?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry decided to never talk about the inside of Hannah's mind. She was VERY grateful that he had fixed her core, if the statues meant anything.

It wouldn't have been so bad if she would just lay off the teasing when he blushed. Still, some part of him appreciated her attention. It felt good for someone to like being around him.

Still he found the city she created interesting. It was apparently based on her home town, but she couldn't quite remember it all... and it made it REALLY confusing. This ally came out of a window into a house that was actually a street...

Honestly it felt like her world was twisted into itself, as if all the exits were actually walls. Somehow he felt that it was much deeper though, like there were layers he just couldn't see.

It didn't help watching Hannah walk on the walls while he relaxed on a ceiling.

She kept pacing. "You can tell me, Harry. Do you think I am too weird? I mean, this is a bit much, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I find this interesting. I may copy the concept in my world somewhere, in fact." Seeing her disbelief he grinned. "Hey, don't forget who has a Snail HQ filled with vampire ducks."

He faded out of her world listening to her giggles.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Susan was sitting in what looked to Harry like a giant court room. She noticed him looking. "Ah, this place is part of the Ministry. My Aunt brought me here a few times, and I want to do that stuff one day. You know, bring people to justice and stuff."

Harry relaxed in a seat, which oddly enough had the Potter Crest on it. "Well, you know I could be a cop or something... but I really want to help people. Maybe be a medic or something. Or whatever magical people call it."

Susan grinned. She seemed much more confident surrounded by this world. She quickly smashed a gavel on the table. "SO MOTE IT BE! Sir Harry of the Potters shall be a medic, thus says the court."

He grinned and stood, pointing at the judge. "OBJECTION!"

She stood and pointed back. "DENIED!"

He tried to point harder and stood on the edge of the next chair. "BACON!"

Her next phrase fell apart. "Wh... What?"

Both hands raised, he turned to the empty room like a boxing champion. "With a win by default, Bacon has defeated the challenger!"

Susan tossed her gavel. "NOT FAIR!" She pointed to an empty witness bench. "The witnesses will disregard bacon as it was out of order!"

Harry crossed both arms, smug. "Bacon is never out of order."

Apparently Susan could make snowballs in her world. And was a dang fine shot.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Diving through a door marked with a purple S logo, Harry wiped snow off the back of his neck, even though his smile seemed a few miles wide. He had never had a snowball fight in a courtroom before, but he would need reinforcements next time.

He turned as he noticed Wisdom coming up from the lower floors. "So how goes their mental defense?"

Harry stared for a moment. "Oh, right. I may have been side tracked at some point."

His hand waved, and a green sheet of threads appearing above each door with a new one showing in front of him. "Attention everyone: Wisdom kind of reminded me that we are suppose to be building protections and stuff, so people can't break into our minds. In case I forgot to mention it, each of your world has memories in them that you should either protect, hide, or whatever. You can also duplicate them, so I would suggest having a hidden safe room in case someone tries to alter, add, or mess with them. If you need me, just call for Jim. As long as our doors are active he can pass it onto me."

He heard a few statements close to "No problem Harry's" and one "Holy crap, baby flamingos" which he was pretty sure was Padma. Close enough.

Harry fell into a relaxing chair, accepting a cup of tea from Wisdom. It was a memory, but a dang good one really. "So, what do you suggest for defense? Is the bubble collection enough for now?"

The silence felt a bit much. He looked up at her, seeing her biting her lip.

With a sigh, he put the tea to the side. "Relax Wisdom. Any suggestion you give I will at least think about."

She sat down next to him, watching the doors. Her hands were rubbing each other as if she wasn't sure what to do with them. "Well, I think we need to create another aspect."

Wisdom glanced at the boy, seeing him also watching the doors. Eventually he spoke, not looking at her. "I assume this one would be... darker than yourself and Jim?"

She nodded. "You have been... repressing. The lake of emotions has helped a lot, but all the little things have been held back for too long. Righteous anger over that bastards actions, hatred for your past, all the obvious stuff you would expect... but also the simple things. When Vernon looks at you like you are less than others, when other children shunned you for your intelligence, even stuff like when you were bumped into on the street and they didn't apologize."

She passed Harry a thin booklet. "Here are my reasons why I think you should make an avatar of your aggression."

He smiled, holding the document for a moment before placing it aside. "I trust you, Wisdom. I mean, who else can I believe than myself? And if I think I need an outlet for my... darker side, then so be it." His face took a firmer stance. "Where should he stay? He would not enjoy being here, surrounded by the light."

She shrugged. "He can visit of course, but I thought he could live in the outer realm, the fog where the world bubbles float. That way he could help defend you before anyone has a chance to even look inside one of the crystals."

Harry sighed. "Well, I know that I grow weary of keeping on alert. Since the attack I have been... edgy."

Wisdom nodded. "Jim and I noticed. We thought you may find more inner peace by giving your anger a way to converse."

His eyes dimmed before he turned to her. "Well, we don't need to use Voldemort's darkness for this. I have plenty of my own."

~~~Core Threads~~~

He stood in a large stone circle with a sand floor. Surrounding the circle was the majority of the Duck Avengers, Jim, and Wisdom.

In a large pile were copies of the worst of Harry's memories. Eight years of abuse, of pain. On top like some sort of sick topping, were all the slights, the newest stuff, even the nasty words of Draco Malfoy.

Harry was dressed in all black as he raised his arms. With a deep shudder, he began to wrap all the memories with thick ropes of green light.

PAIN.

THOUSANDS, no more... every memory. Bones were breaking, skin was tearing, his blood was boiling.

He began to release more. His determination to not let this rule him. His fear of what he could become. His pride of how he had improved his situation.

And his Rage. The feeling of pure red anger, especially the night he found out who had taken his first loved ones away, away before he even had a chance to love them.

Tears of blood joined his hands as black mist began covering the pile.

Revenge, even some dark desires for power. Harry let them all out, pushed them and accepted it... this was HIS dark side, the parts that he had never wanted to accept, never wanted to admit lived in his heart.

He felt Wisdom press her hand on his right shoulder. He took comfort even as he cried harder, pushing loneliness into his pain, along with a small amount of his desire for love.

As he came to, he saw black shoes.

Taller than Harry, skin taunt as he loomed. The man before Harry seemed to be dying of hunger, each bone pressing to be free. His shirt was a fine black silk, his pants slick and dark as night, and around his neck was a bright green necktie.

But more important than all of this was his eyes. Deep inside his thin face were two empty black expanses. Deep inside the darkness of those eyes were two embers of bright green.

His face was flat. Not a snarl, no fangs showing. Almost unemotional, as long as you didn't look into his eyes.

His hand reached toward the boy. "Now now, young sir. We are not one to lie in the soil."

Harry gripped the hand without pause and raised himself, as the skeleton-like figure began to tidy Harrys clothing.

Wisdom paused before putting on a smile and holding out her hand. "Hello! I am Wisdom, Harry's love of learning. What is your name?"

The man raised himself to his full height before lightly gripping her hand, bending, and kissing her knuckles. "Lovely to meet you miss. You may call me Wrath." He waved his hand, and dark ropes, so dark they almost looked striped with black, provided two elegant chairs and a table.

Harry took a seat while Wrath stood behind it. Harry looked at Wisdom. "Wrath has always been there when I needed him. It is why I wanted to have a different profession really."

Wrath nodded as he reached forward to provide Wisdom with a dark liquid in a crystal tea cup. "Indeed. Master Harry and I have been together for years, and although we may have a less... active relationship in the future I have no doubt I will be of service in the future."

Wisdom tasted the liquid... it was a strange thing, not a memory of tea she knew. At her raised eyebrow Wrath gave a small smirk. "I may have made my own blend of the Master's favorite teas. It may not exist in the waking world, but it has always been one of my favorites."

She almost choked on her drink. "Always? How long have you been here?"

His eyes, mere pin pricks of light, seemed to smile. "My name may change, but anger has been here for a very long time. Although I must say it is very nice to have companionship now."

Somehow Wisdom knew he was not just talking about her and Jim. Harry's friendships may have prevented something terrible, by allowing Wrath to find some sort of peace.

Jim walked up to the table and nodded to Wrath, who returned it. The duck began drinking out of a third cup.

Harry looked toward the sky. "Wrath, would you mind guarding the outer realm? The darkness where my worlds fly?"

Wrath straightened his tie somehow and stood straighter. "Of course my Master. It would be an Honor."

Harry finished his tea, placing it on the table. "Will you need a new weapon?"

Wrath's right arm became covered in pitch black ropes that spun like a drill. His face though showed no expression. "No sir, our favorite will be fine."

Harry nodded as the tall man faded away, to assume duties in the dark. Turning to Wisdom, his face seemed somehow to be less tense, like he had finally placed something down that he had been lifting for a long time. "Well Wisdom, what shall we read today? I believe Jim has training to do and our friends are still busy in their own worlds."

She absently passed over a memory about some of the more common household spells as she tried to calm down. Wrath had a presence that sort of insisted everyone notice him, even when he was silent.

Harry patted her hand as he took the book. There was a reason he rarely introduced people to his darker side. Right now though was a good time, and as he reviewed information about dusting charms he found he was beginning to look forward to seeing what his friends would create in their mental worlds.


	26. Defended? Relax and Explore

Hermione was working on the fourth floor of her book castle when she felt a shudder run through her world.

Her hands paused as the massive books paused in their dance, her mind somehow searching for the cause... Harry had dropped the power he was providing for a few seconds. She felt a touch of concern.

She knew he was opening power to all five of his friends at the same time while they built their defenses, but she hadn't even considered that Harry may have problems with this. He just seemed to flow with energy.

She turned to a crane. This one had worked with her more than the others and seemed to be rapidly gaining intelligence. She assumed it was like Jim, the more she worked with it the more ability it would gain. "Excuse me, I will be right back. Could you get the others to help organize these blocks for the next level?"

The bird had never talked, and Hermione wasn't sure paper could. But it did nod and begin moving smaller books away from the construction site, so she assumed the idea got through.

She went to where Harry had been and knocked on the black door with a green H on it. After a moment it opened, and Hermione could see Wisdom poking her head around. "Hello Hermione, everything going fine?"

Hermione waved a hand. "Yes, yes, I am doing great here. Is Harry Ok? I felt a power drop just now."

Wisdom seemed to be thinking about something before opening the door wider. "Physically he is fine, but emotionally... I think he could use a break right now honestly. I just met his darker side, and it was... well, an experience."

Hermione walked in seeing the other doors. Each one had a letter written in the color of their magic, and she watched as Wisdom went to each one, whispering into them, and letting the others in. Padma was holding a blue furred puppy, Terry was wearing some sort of strange uniform, and Susan was in a confusing conversation with Hannah about inverted doorways.

As they gathered together they saw Harry staring into the sky in a black metal chair. The chair seemed to be formed from metal bones.

Hannah moved in and poked Harry. "Hey, everything ok? We felt some sort of pulse earlier."

His eyes snapped to theirs and seemed to expand, as if they had been compressed recently. Suddenly his face broke into a smile and the chair below him flowed into a soft red sofa. "HEY EVERYONE! It's been a while, hasn't it? How goes the construction?"

Hermione felt confused. "I... well, its only been about a couple of hours for me. How long have you been waiting on us?"

Harry's face went blank for a moment before he slapped his forehead. "Hey Jim! What is our current time compression level?"

"Quack"

"Bloody hell."

"Language Harry. Now, what did Jim say?"

Harry kept rubbing his face. "Well, apparently when I am the only one here it is VERY compressed. How long ago was the pulse you guys felt?"

Hermione shrugged. "About five minutes for me?"

Terry raised a hand. "Mine was an hour or so."

Harry nodded, and explained. "Terry's world is basically much more basic. Nothing but a lot of Quidditch stuff. That place is easy to compress time in, unlike your book paradise."

He leaned back, his eyes dimming. "Jim says that since I... reinforced my defenses if you will, since that... I don't know. About a week?"

He grinned slightly sad. "I created a new aspect to protect the place where my bubbles live, but it required remembering some of my more... rough memories."

Hannah gave him a hug. Hermione was glad to see the boy only slightly stiffen before hugging back... she felt that anyone who could understand her mind had to have a rough life too at some point. She looked at the others.

"Well, this is easy to fix, no? Who wants to invite Harry over first?"

Padma raised her hand and started hopping. "I just found a river of baby rabbits!"

Harry was up and straightening his shirt. "Wow, I just remembered something important I had to do. Padma, care to join me?"

Terry grinned as he watched the two start running for the door with a pink P. As they exited they could barely hear Harry. "Do we need a boat for it, or do we just jump in?"

"I got duck floaties."

"This is going to rock."

As the door closed Susan turned to the others. "We can't let him get like that again. He... He shouldn't be alone for that long, not when we are so close."

Hannah and Hermione nodded. Terry was looking around. "So he has a new person in here? When will we meet him?"

Wisdom gave each of them some cookies. "It may be a bit. Harry is pretty private really."

Hermione shook her head. "Well, we will be here when he is ready. Now I got to get back and make sure the bird is not messing up my towers."

Hannah paused at the door. "Wisdom, can I invite Susan to my world through here?"

The tall woman gave a nod. "No issue. Each connection works like a path. Anyone can use it for now, as long as Jim doesn't object." Seeing Hermione's concern she grinned. "If there is a problem we will just let them know. Now get you kids, Harry is enjoying the world of baby animals and should be fine. Get your worlds protected."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry felt that Padma had the way of it. Beautiful landscapes were nice and stuff, but cover him in baby animals any time.

Still, it was unnerving at times. Puddles were Poodles, but they still splashed. As far as he could tell, it didn't hurt the... liquid dog? but it did make it give a cute bark.

Still, Padma clearly loved animals, even more than Harry did.

"What do you want to do in life Padma?" He saw her eyes drift through the clouds, all baby shaped of course. His favorite were the baby jellyfishes.

Padma leaned into a soft pile of kittens. "I want to get care of magical creatures as my main subject. Work with animals and stuff. If I can't, I don't know. Our parents didn't make it through the last war, but I heard stories about Mom. She almost had her own personal zoo!"

Harry stroked a kitten. "Well, I want to heal people. Maybe I could stop by and help if your animals get hurt? It would be neat if we could still hang out when we are older."

Padma grinned. "Assuming we would let you NOT hang out with us. I am pretty sure I can tell that the other girls like being friends with you." She wiggled into the grass, letting the stumbling balls of fur bump into her. "Face it Harry, you're stuck with us."

He grinned and threw up his hands. "Oh NOOOO, not that!"

She rolled her eyes and focused back on the puppies. Some hadn't been hugged enough... awe, who is she kidding, NONE of them had been hugged enough. "Doctor Harry, these puppies need cuddles stat!"

Harry giggled. "Aye Nurse! 120 CC's of hugs on the way!"

Animals rocked.

~~~Core Threads~~~

It was much later when a glowing pair of eyes staring at a floating time charm suddenly brightened. At the same time four girls and a boy also started stretching.

Hermione absently pulled one of her planners out and began making notes. "Well, I have my basic castle down and I have confined most of my worst memories. Still need to finish organizing the Master Library. Harry, is it possible for Wisdom to help me with that?"

'Sorry Hermione, I can only help out while we are connected.'

Everyone except Harry jumped, although Harry was now looking at the others thoughtfully. "Huh. You heard her that time, didn't you?"

Hermione looked fascinated. "THAT is awesome... can you hear me when I talk, or only if Harry hears me?"

'Just think loudly. Harry does this all the time when he wants other opinions.'

'Now I don't do it ALL the time, Wisdom.'

Everyone was now staring at Harry. His face went a bit blank. "Holy crap... you heard ME, didn't you?"

Several nods later, Harry waved a hand. As his ropes gently released from everyone's power, they felt a surge of weakness, as if they just realized that they had been running uphill for an hour.

Before they could really do anything but sag into their seats. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Huh... I think that you guys were using my connection for more than just the mind stuff. It looks like your body was using it to enhance your abilities somehow... Hmm."

Harry looked at Hermione, and her weakness fell away. Her body felt like she had just woken up and taken a shower.

'Can you hear me now?'

Hermione just nodded.

He grinned. As he looked at each person, they sat up again. "Yeah, I think there are side effects to this mind connection thing."

'But the ability to talk secretly is neat, no?'

Harry could feel a sigh from Hermione. 'If we feel such a loss when you drop the connection though, that could be distracting. How long can you hold this up Harry?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know. A few months? It is not using up any magic, I am just holding it in place.'

Terry rubbed his face. "You know, I should probably not be shocked by Harry any more."

Hanna patted Terry's back. "It's fine. He never grew up with magic, so he will probably keep breaking the rules for a while. Being surprised is almost expected now."

Susan had a grin. "If you can make this into a spell, I know the Auror force would love it."

Seeing his expression, she explained. "Auror... uh. Like Magical Police I guess."

Harry raised his hand. 'Ok, I am going to disconnect us until the next time we do this. I don't want anyone to get addicted or whatever.'

Everyone nodded, some more reluctant than others, and prepared for the drop in energy.

Hannah groaned. It was still like gravity got heavier. "That... Harry, you just don't realize how much power you have. It is honestly ridiculous."

He shrugged as he began helping everyone up from the table. "No doubt. Now lets herd everyone down to dinner. I think we may want to call an early night tonight just because of how tired this has made everyone."

Several nods and a few groans later and they were moving through the halls of the School, searching for nourishments.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione should probably be disgusted, but at this point it was just entertaining seeing what Harry decided to try. He was polite, but his choices... Right now he was making a ham, mustard and peanut butter sandwich with pickles. She had to forcibly remove the mayonnaise before he could add that as well. It was the least she could do after somehow missing him reaching for the peanut butter.

"Are you SURE you don't want a bite?"

Mouth firmly close, she gave a solid nod.

Harry shrugged, enjoying the tastes. "Your lost I guess." Man he loved the variety at these meals. He would have never mixed bacon and ranch dressing otherwise.

There seemed to be more seasonings, dips, and dressings near his plate today... someone in the kitchens must have noticed his eating habits.

Harry's internal debate about how to thank school cooks was cut short when Professor Flitwick stepped behind his group. "Here is your class schedules for Monday, everyone. And Harry, I have heard your group has been especially library bound so far this year, Mr. Potter."

He gave a wry nod. "After what happened last dinner I wanted to help my friends... protect themselves."

Harry saw lights flash through the smaller mans eyes. Clearly this teacher was clever. "Well Mr. Potter, I can't officially claim anything about any possible mental attacks by a teacher, and I certainly can't suggest making official complaints to build a time-line."

Harry gave a grin that was almost feral. "Susan didn't send anything, of course nothing to her Aunt. And I certainly am not teaching Hermione, Terry, Padma, Susan, and Hannah how to protect their minds." His grin was probably too big. "For I would have no reason, yes?"

Professor Flitwick gave a grin not that far from Harry's Goblin friends. "Well, you should take 25 points for not teaching them as well as another 10 for not encouraging house cooperation."

Hermione grinned next to Harry as he nodded. "Indeed. Are you required to sit up there at that stuffy table, or do you have time to join us lowly students?"

Filius sat next to Padma and began gathering some food. "Why thank you for the invitation. If you have some time, I may have a few stories to tell of earlier years... especially of a group of students that were called the 'Marauders'."

Harry's confused expression made the teacher grin. "Just so you know, James Potter was quite the prankster."

Harry's smile lasted through the whole meal. His friends, tired as they were, loved the stories of four students driving a rule loving woman mad and filling the halls with pranks and gags.

This was a memory that Harry would treasure.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was sure Professor Flitwick would regret sharing information about the Marauders one day... but if he had his way, the teacher would be laughing at the same time.

Almost as soon as they finished dinner Harry begged time to go get lost in the castle. Hermione had some studding she wanted to do, and Padma just wanted a good nap... some of her mind animals were very energetic.

Terry somehow convinced Susan and Hannah to go fly some on the school brooms, death traps as they were. Apparently Madam Hooch gave supervised flying sessions occasionally, and he had roped the other two into it.

Harry was on a mission. Moving much faster than he looked like he should be able to, he was dashing from intersection to intersection, leaving threads as markers at each one. Every time he started to cross an old path Wisdom would let him know, as he worked his way randomly through the old and complex structure.

He found some hallways that only worked in one direction, a staircase that only let you climb it if you went backwards, one room that had no exit until you closed your eyes, and at one point he was sure he had bumped into himself somehow. At least he had apologized to himself, he did appreciate good manners.

He had found the other common rooms easily enough, since they had constant traffic through the day. LOTS of empty class rooms.

The death door Dumbledore mentioned... well, he gave a wide berth to.

Harry hadn't completed even half the castle, but he did mark suspected secret passages. Occasionally Wisdom would hear someone getting close and would catch how they managed to open them, and she would add the knowledge into his Hogwarts map so he could explore it himself later.

He already knew passwords for the other three common rooms (Hufflepuff was more of a keypad that uses barrels of wine instead of buttons, but the other two used words or phrases). Not that he really cared about their common rooms right now, but it was neat to know.

As the time got closer to curfew, he was happy at the progress he had made. It wasn't perfect by any means, but now he had a fairly good grasp of the layout... oh, right.

He pulled out the paper he had gotten at dinner. His class schedule had seemed important for about three seconds before someone they had started talking about his Dad... Merlin his dad was cool.

Harry gave it a once over. Herbology three times a week sounded fine, nothing wrong with Charms... Oh Potions. Potions was going to suck. At least it was on Friday, so his friends hopefully had a chance to get their defenses up.

Still, it really couldn't pull him too far down after how well his day had gone. As he fell into bed Harry grinned as he thought about all his new friends, friends he could tell the whole truth to, magic and everything. Merlin, he had already shared more truth with some of them than he had with anyone... and it felt good.

Sunday he wanted to get more exploration done, maybe with his friends. But Monday... Monday he would begin to learn magic. Oh not just the Charms and Transfiguration classes, but the stuff in the Library, the stuff no one thought about learning in years...

His smile made it hard to fall asleep.


	27. First Day of Class

'Good Morning Sir. Area is secured, and it is time for you to awake.'

'GAwamaada.'

'Indeed, quite droll Master. Now up.'

'... Wrath?'

'Yes Master?'

Harry's bleary eye opened. There was light out the window, but it still was TOO BLOODY EARLY for anyone. Or anything. Even the Sun wanted to go back to sleep.

'Goodnight, Wrath.'

'Should I ask Miss Wisdom to help wake you?'

'FINE, Bloody fine. She would probably find out how to hit me with a water balloon or something.'

Harry dragged himself into his morning routine. 'Is there any reason why I feel like I have been punched in the mouth Wrath?'

'I blame society Master. And how late you stayed up, the high speed you forced your body to run at yesterday, and the amount of magic you fed through your friends while they worked on their mind.' Harry thought he could hear tea cups clinking. 'Mostly society though.'

'Fair enough.' Harry yawned as he slumped down to the common room. As he collapsed into one of the couches he tried to wake the rest of his mind up. 'Hey, what is Jim up to?'

'Just drills today Master. Wouldn't want the troops getting restless, waiting for the next skirmish. Oh, and he had a report for you.'

Harry straightened. Jim never wasted his time. 'One minute then. Jim?'

'Quack.'

'Good morning to you too. What is the situation?'

Harry felt a decidedly nervous duck on the other end of the line.

'Quack.'

'... wh... what? How can a team member be MISSING?'

'Quack. Quack.'

Harry was NOT awake enough for this. But as far as Jim could tell, that bastard Potion Professor had somehow made a connection LONG ENOUGH for one of Delta Squad to sneak into his head.

How the heck was Harry going to retrieve a duck from someone else's mind? Maybe he would attack again. God this was a weird problem. Leaving it behind was NOT an option.

Harry Potter would not abandon one of his own.

'Master, if I may make a suggestion?'

He sighed again. 'Yes Wrath?'

'When the greasy one attacks again, I can hold him here until the Delta Duck could be retrieved.'

Harry thought about it. It would require waiting until Friday unless they got lucky, but it may be the best option right now. Delta was a tough team, a week in hostile territory would be easy for them to handle... fine. 'Jim, you got the new orders? Be ready by Potions on Friday.'

'Quack.'

He faded back to reality as he waited on the couch. As much as he loved his ducks, sometimes they really added to his stress.

~~~Core Threads~~~

A few minutes more and Padma, Hermione, and Terry were all down in the common room. They were also poking at Harry, who had fallen asleep again. It was entertaining.

"How long until he wakes up?" Hermione was now using a corner of her book to poke the boy.

"He may be up already and is just enjoying the poke-massage." Padma was focusing her poking along his back. She never liked the idea of needles, but finger-pokes didn't hurt anyone.

Terry picked up a pillow. "Well, let's upgrade the poke."

As the projectile got close to the child, his body seemed to twist and everything stopped. Padma was mid poke, Hermione had just pulled her book back, and Terry was staring into some empty sockets with two dying green embers deep inside them.

"Oh. Pardon me, Mr. Boot. I was unaware of what new tool you would be poking my Master with."

The voice was crisp, polite, and TERRFIYING. It brought back MANY feelings from the train with Draco, which Hermione recognized.

She gulped slightly. "Are you... the new aspect Wisdom was talking about?"

The tiny green sparks turned to her and she felt exposed and undefended. "Why yes, Ms. Granger. You may refer to me as Wrath. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Padma seemed to have almost lost her grip on... well, just about everything. "Is... Is Harry around?"

The boy with terrifying eyes seemed... annoyed. "As a matter of fact, yes he is. However, Master Harry has been VERY reluctant to wake up today. In fact, as long as we are on the topic..."

His wand seemed to appear from nowhere, as if grown from the edges of his fingers as he delicately waved it. Pointing it upwards, his mouth barely moved... "Aquamenti."

A perfect arc of pure blue water hung in the air for a moment... before splashing on Harry.

"OH BLOODY HELL ON A BROOM!"

Ah, THERE was Harry. Hermione was grinning with relief. "Good morning sunshine!"

Harry looked at her in disbelief. "Did you just... soak me?"

She grinned more. "Nope, apparently Wrath has a good handle on a few advanced spells."

He looked at the wand in his hand with a bemused expression. "Well... that... huh. Kind of hard to retaliate when your own mind pulls a prank on you."

Terry started draging everyone to the door. "Strange Harry stuff later, bacon and eggs now."

Harry waved his arm as water began dropping off him, leaving him dry as water began floating along. "Indeed. If I HAVE to be up at this hour, I would at least like to enjoy some orange juice. Or something."

Padma whispered into Harry's ear. He frowned. "What do you mean? I just can't leave the water on the floor, what if someone slipped?" She whispered some more. "Fine, I will send it off to the nearest bathroom."

As he waved his hand the water TOOK OFF. Even Harry was shocked at the speed the current of liquid flew down the hall. Hearing a distant "WHY!?" Harry quickly grabbed the two nearest arms and began guiding everyone in the other direction. "Pretty sure the fastest way to the Grand Hall is this way, let's mosy along, everyone keep together."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Exploring the castle was a fun but a bit repetitive. It did teach Harry how DANGEROUS the darn building is. Some stairs were actually FAKE, and standing on them threatened to drop you to your death. Many doors were fake, or required special handling to open (Or in one annoying case, close). Windows seemed to be placed randomly, and there was no guarantee that two windows side by side would be viewing the same side of the castle. In fact Harry had already found two windows that were looking straight up into the sky instead of out on the lawn.

The passages were fun to explore mostly, especially when Harry began practicing the dust removal spell. Apparently part of the spell defined what was to be removed (see: Dust), so changing it gave some fun results. In one room he had even managed to convert the spell into an "Ant removal spell", which was pretty lucky since the ants seemed to have built a fairly advanced society and Hermione was worried it was reaching the nuclear age without bothering about safety testing.

Neither Terry nor Padma knew what she was talking about, but it SOUNDED bad to everyone.

Harry also managed to meet (And tag) several of the ghosts and something called "Peeves", which apparently was a poltergeist formed from excess school child energy. It gave Harry enough of a grip to push them away... doubly awesome since it worked on Peeves as well.

Eventually the group bumped into Susan and Hannah near the library, and their wandering became something like a walk and greet. Harry filed each name away, trusting Wisdom to sort out all the details later.

Harry connected everyone in the library, although they were now spread out to various couches. No reason to be sore after mental work. Even as he followed Susan around in her mental Ministry, he wondered about how that Delta Duck was doing in deep, DEEP recon.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry entered the Charms Classroom, finding a spot near the middle towards the front. Each desk supported about three students, so Padma and Hermione got the end seats.

The room was an octagon, One side clear for students to enter, the opposite side set up with the teacher's desk, and the rest of the room filled with desks, focusing on the middle. It seemed like many of the classes were taught with two houses, mostly Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slythern. Probably was how that major rivalry kept going, really.

Susan and Hannah snagged a desk with Terry nearby, since Puffs and Claws never really had issues like the other two houses. They also seemed to be checking out the room, enjoying the subtle shades of blue and rich browns.

Harry noticed that the glass windows had animated glass, each with a different House animal. THIS is what made magic wonderful to him, the fun stuff. Art for beauty's sake was one of the highlights of the magical world in Harry's opinion.

Thankfully the class settled down pretty quickly as Professor Flitwick climbed some books and stood at the font of the class.

Filius grinned at all the children, ready to learn something he found amazing. "All right, quiet down everyone! I trust you had an adventure finding your way to the class, no?"

He chuckled at the various moans and complaints. Finding the class could sometimes teach you more than the class itself. "Settle, settle. Now, in future classes I want everyone to read the next chapter of your book before we start... but for this first one we are going to cover something easy, basic, and absolutely vital."

Each student copied the wand movements as he taught them. "Now these are the basic movements, but if you practice long enough you can make them smaller and smaller without losing the power of the motion. The most advanced duelists can cast their favorite spells without any movements at all, like so."

He pointed his wand at the roof, a silent and motionless stunning spell smashing into the surface... wow, this brought back good memories. He grinned at the wide eyes of his students. "Now, onto the basics, shall we? If we make enough progress, I may introduce you to one of my favorite fun spells, a color changing charm. Simple, doesn't last long, but entertaining!"

Harry was fascinated. He wasn't even casting anymore, just watching the magic from dozens of wands surrounding him. Hermione's orange power was being twisted, pulsed, stretched, dripped... each wand motion left residue in front of her before slowly fading away. Each time a new strand of magic touched it, the old pattern would last longer and draw power from the crossing of the two threads.

He reached out to stop her. "Hermione, just... go much slower."

She was about to say something cross when she saw how bright his eyes were... no not bright. Flat out glowing. There were even white threads drifting in the deep green. He was seeing something she couldn't. "Well... ok, Harry, but you need to show me this memory later so I can see what you see, alright?"

He gave her a grin as she began doing each movement slowly. This sort of explained wands to Harry, or at least why wizards would ever start using them in the first place... there was precision here. The power going into the wand was flaring, bouncing, matching Hermione's mood and heartbeat, but the output was smooth, extremely thin, and exactly precise.

Harry touched her arm again, making her pause. "Say... things. Just random Latin words. Better yet, say Lumos, then Light, and go back and forth while doing those motions."

She shrugged. As she repeated the pattern, once for each language, Harry was mesmerized. The spoken language controlled the color of the magic as it came out... was that important? Did that signify something? More important though was the cadence, the consonants of the words. At each beat in the sentence, the magic pulsed in the output.

This was probably why words were needed. Wizards couldn't really see when the beats were off, so they probably calculated when they were needed while casting... or just guessed until it worked. Even now her wand would randomly light up in various colors instead of the expected light of a normal light charm. Well, except for THAT one. Merlin his eyes hurt now.

"Wow, I REALLY should have had you say separate words. Staring at a light charm, man I am dense."

At this point Harry and Hermione realized that it was awfully quiet.

Also, they seemed to have attracted more than a little attention.

Thankfully, blushing seemed to be working fine.

"Well, that was above and beyond what I expected Mrs. Granger. Take 10 points to Ravenclaw for a perfectly cast Lumos before we even covered it." Well, turns out she can blush more. Ah well.

Harry raised his hand. "Sorry professor, I was watching how language changed the magic during wand movements. We weren't trying to be distracting..."

Oops. Turns out that is NOT what you say to get everyone to stop staring at you. Or maybe it was because his eyes were still glowing? Crud. Harry REALLY wasn't on the ball right now.

Filius had a glint in his eyes that made Harry a bit nervous. His smile was also slightly disturbing. "Mr. Potter, this was just an introductory session really. But if you could stay after class I would appreciate it."

Thankfully they moved back to wand movements, although Harry did have to spend a couple of seconds apologizing to Hermione for embarrassing her and promising to show her what it had looked like later. Padma was just giggling, the traitor. Not that he had a clue what she could say to calm down Hermione, but giggling just not helping.

~~~Core Threads~~~

As the last of the students left, Harry waved his friends into the hall while gathering himself.

"So I assume you have a gift of sight then, Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick seemed almost vibrating with enthusiasm.

"Yes sir. I was watching everyone expelling magic while wand waving, and I wanted to try and get a better look at it. It was... very pretty."

The teacher had a wistful look. "I have heard that each sight looks different to each user. One person even smelled magic of all things. Said the stunning charm smelled like grapes."

Harry shrugged. "I see thread, or ropes or whatever. Although normally it is all one color... when Hermione used Latin it changed from her normal orange into a light blue color."

The professor nodded. "That is sort of expected. The wand is a great equalizer in a way... it restricts the magic passing through it to manageable levels, it allows fine control over the shape of the magic coming out of it. The Latin language was originally designed to strip emotions out of the magic, so that it won't be as bothered by how the caster felt. The strongest magics use other languages that enhance specific emotions, like love or hatred."

He sent another stunner at the roof. "Silent casting means that you have enough emotional control that strong emotions does not disturb the flow of your magic. Using the words would just strip the emotion part out of course, which makes it easier to cast but weaker in strength."

The teacher's gaze turned back to the boy. "You will likely find my class very dull. Feel free to bring outside material to keep yourself interested... in fact, I will likely have some things for you to do as well. I would also appreciate it if you helped your fellow students learn the practical sections of the course, since teaching always helped me understand magic on a more basic level."

The professor leaned in. "Your father may have been a Marauder Harry, a great prankster... but your mother was a Charmer." He chuckled. "In many ways, I admit. But she studied magic, and even created her own spells and theories. She would be singing songs right now knowing you can actually SEE what you are working with... I know where she is, she is overjoyed that you have such a gift."

Harry had to look away. He was eleven, and he was pretty sure eleven year-olds didn't cry. He nodded though.

The professor walked to his desk and opened a lid, and handed Harry a book. "I was going to give this to you anyway when you got older, but I am glad I got the opportunity to do this as your Head of House and not just as a friend."

Harry gently the book. It seemed to be a self bound journal, with simple letterings on the front... "Why I Hate The Standard Book of Spells (All Grades)". He opened the front page...

"To one of my Favorite Teachers, here is a summary of all the arguments we had over the years. You were always there for me, and I hope you enjoy this..."

It was signed Lily Potter.

Harry couldn't look away as his hand gently touched the letters that many years ago had been written by a young woman with bright red hair. "... thank you, Professor."

The older man reached up and patted the boy on the shoulder, and left. He knew that Harry probably needed to be a bit alone for now.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry left the classroom and almost got squashed by a brown-haired tornado of worry. "OH HARRY I was worried! Did you lose points? I shouldn't have put so much energy into the spell, maybe I did it too quickly or something..."

He grinned, not seeming to realize he had tear tracks on his face. "Mione, don't worry! We just had a bit of a conversation. Professor Flitwick wanted me to help other people out during the practical parts, since I can actually see what they are doing wrong."

Harry also held up a bound journal, carefully held by his left hand. "He also gave me a book made by my mother, one he got from her when she left school."

Padma leaned in and smiled. "She had a humor streak then. 'Why I hated'... better not let Hermione see that."

Hermione sniffed. "You know I wouldn't do anything to something Harry's mom wrote. Besides, I bet she was a brilliant writer." She blushed at the look Harry gave her and turned away. "A... Anyway, we should get going, right? Anyone know the way to Transfiguration?"

Harry wiped his eyes and gently placed his new treasure in his hand storage. This book would never leave his presence. "Well, I may know a pretty good path."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Four ladders, three stair-cases, one rope swing ('WHY IS THIS HERE?' Padma screamed), and two trap doors later and everyone stumbled into the Transfiguration classroom. It was so orderly if felt wrong... no windows, a perfect cube with a door in the exact middle on one side and a desk on the other.

As everyone found seats, Harry paused at the front of the class. "Professor McGonagall?"

She looked up from her class roster and gave a slight smile. "Good day, Mr. Potter. Staying out of trouble I trust?" Her smile almost faltered seeing a VERY James-like expression cross his face before it melted into innocence.

His face was like a wee babe. "Of course no trouble professor. Wouldn't want me marauding around the school after all."

She gave him a glare. "Let me guess... Professor Flitwick? SOMEONE had to tell you so early... I was hoping for at least a week before... oh well. I will say this young man. Your father may have been a prankster, but he was one of the finest young men I ever taught. Your mother was just a darling all over." She mumbled what sounded like 'Except for her temper, Merlin'.

Harry grinned. "Well, I promise to try and not interrupt classes, would that help?"

She sighed. "Frankly, I will take what I can get. Mr. Weasley and ... goodness there are so many of them here now. George and Fred are a handful enough as it is. I would REALLY appreciate you following the rules, understood?"

Oh Merlin, that innocent look again. She was in deep mud this year.

The class quickly got underway. All the children were impressed by the pig transformation, while Harry was really impressed by how she did it with no special wand movements or words. Did she really need desk-to-pig transformations that often? Maybe after years of teaching...

Well, now they had matches. Yeah.

After working on it a bit, seeing Padma get slightly depressed and watching Hermione get it to shift colors slightly, he raised a hand and got the teacher to come to their desk.

"Yes Mr. Potter? Problems?"

Harry grinned. "Could you do me a favor and change the matchstick really slowly with the movement and incantation? I would like to watch it a few times... especially if you could do it once with all of it, once with only wand movement, and once with neither."

After a pause, Professor McGonagall nodded. "Very well Mr. Potter. Please pay attention."

His eyes were glowing before she even began the first movement... The spell seemed to wrap the object, to soak into the fibers... then it was just different.

"Could you please change it into a button instead?" Seeing her raised eyebrow, he cleared his throat. "I saw you impregnate the matchstick with magic, but I want to see if the process looks different when you change it to other things."

Minerva had a clear look at his eyes and a strong suspicion of what was going on now... and she REALLY wished he was one of her cubs. With a bit of a sigh she converted the matchstick into a button each of the three ways...

Harry was frowning at his matchstick. It was really hard getting ENOUGH magic to leave the wand, as it felt like he was trying to paint a house with a toothbrush. It took really odd hand motions to coat the whole thing.

Finally he just reached down and wrapped it with a rope. 'BECOME A NEEDLE, you matchstick son of a...' Oh. Well, that was straight forward.

He looked up to see an astonished teacher, Hermione with her face in her hands, and Padma poking at her matchstick like it was about to eat her. "Oh... I found out I wasn't covering it with enough magic, so I just stopped using the wand. Wand makes it harder. Too precise."

Man he was bad at explaining stuff. Now she was looking at him like he was a fire breathing turtle.

Classes were hard.


	28. Initial Research

A black haired boy was slumped at a library table.

"It's not that bad, Harry." Padma was trying to get support with her eyes, but Hermione still seemed stunned.

The boy just lightly thumped his head on the table again.

Susan felt like giving it a shot... why not? "Look, I am sure this stuff happens all the time." She paused... "Well, not the part about two teachers basically making you teaching assistants. Or the transfiguration thing." She finally noticed that Hannah was making frantic 'What are you saying stop you are making this worse' motions. "I mean, we could do it too, right?"

The boy mumbled. "But then you told them that I showed you... I was trying to make it look more normal, Suze. Not... another me thing." He gave a tired look. "I already have ENOUGH people whispering about me in the school."

He sighed and leaned back. "Well, I guess I have to get used to this kind of thing eventually anyway. Being the 'Boy-who-lived' pretty much promised that my life would be thrust into the public." He looked over at Hermione, who seemed REALLY happy that Harry was not going to mope... uh. Continue contemplating life. Yeah. "Hey Mione, why do we only have two classes today? Not that I mind, but yeah."

The brown haired girl nodded. "Most first-years have to build up a bit of stamina the first year using their magic, getting used to their wand." She gave a shrug. "Part of the reason is because most of our classmates are already tired just from what we have done so far."

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, I would normally have felt used up I think. I did some spells with my dad's wand once, and even the basic stuff made me tired. I think when you settled our cores it helped a lot."

Susan grinned. "I think the wand part was better." She blushed at Hannah's expression before thwapping her shoulder. "Not that, I mean for spells and stuff. I know I never felt such an amazing connection with my wand before."

Terry looked around the library. "So what is the plan for today? I hate to admit it, but I do feel a bit weak magically after all that practice so far."

Harry's eyes glinted as a smile brightened the room. "Research, my friend, research." His grin looked hungry. "First thing we need to find are librarian spells. I want to know how to search a book for topics or words, how to search a library for books, hopefully how to search a library for books ON a topic or search term. We also need to know how to make temporary or permanent copies of books or notes or just random paper, how to protect books, paper, and scrolls from damage..."

His eyes seemed to gaze into the distance. "I would love to find spells that let us move books directly into our mind worlds so we can read them later. Or that could transform sound and visuals into text." He looked around the table. There was a real level of interest in their eyes. Well, except for Hermione who looked like someone had given her the keys to a giant chocolate car filled with cute kittens.

She seemed almost to be in a trance. "Of course... Library spells..." Hermione focused. "We need stuff for spell checking, editing text, and sorting books based on criteria like subject, name, author or whatever."

Terry seemed to be heavily burdened by the world. "That sounds like SO much work."

Susan patted his shoulder. "Well imagine how much time you will save. More time to fly if you don't have to remember what book has the topics you need for your essays, right?"

More time for Quidditch? Terry stood. "What are you guys waiting for? To the books!"

~~~Core Threads~~~

A few hours later, their table was covered in indexes, massive books that gave descriptions of types of magic, and so forth. Harry placed a fairly heavy green tomb and took a seat, seeing his friends settle.

The librarian, Madam Pince, was much nicer when quietly asked questions... Maybe it was because their group hadn't made any annoyingly loud noises since her first warning. She had provided a copy of the books she used when she first became a librarian, although she had pointed out that certain details (Like the restricted section security and stuff) was not going to be in them.

Harry was ecstatic. Well, honestly Wisdom was the one flipping out and giggling over all the new spells and abilities he was collecting, but he felt that if one part of you was doing a happy dance with ducks than on the whole you were ALSO happy... right?

He once again held his wand in his right hand, pointed at the palm of his left. Harry had found that his wand was much more precise depending on which core he used. The older dragon heartstring provided a more powerful and thick rope of power, but the young one was much more precise and easy to manipulate.

Using the young core, he found that all the spells being cast could be done on a much smaller scale. Holding the spell in his left palm while he wrote it made everything easier. Right now he was practicing the sorting spell, watching the green thread curl into interesting shapes.

The sorting and search spells were brilliant, especially when Hermione found an older text that had been misshelved. It was a really old copy of Madam Pince's book, "The book within: A Librarian's Guide". The older versions of the search and sorting stuff could handle sorting almost anything, including stone tablets and scrolls and stuff. The older spell was much more complicated of course, but that wasn't why Harry was casting.

The same spell LOOKED different.

Susan glanced at Harry again. He had been casting the two sorting spells for over an hour now, and didn't even seem tired. Seeing Hannah's raised eyebrow she blushed slightly and went back to the books. They had each chosen a different topic to research cool spells.

Harry was focusing on information related spells, while Hannah decided to look up food creation and preservation. Hermione of course loved the ideas of copying books into the mind, so was going through anything on Occlumency about different methods of absorbing data. Susan was supposed to be helping Padma and Terry collect books about OTHER Books about spells, so they could find stuff faster.

It would be easier to watch Harry if Hannah would stop looking this way.

Hannah was having a lot more fun than she had expected. Class had almost been too easy, since her connection to her wand was so strong now. True she hadn't completed the matchstick thing, but she had made more progress than many classmates.

She looked up from a section about different types of food preservation. Seeing Susan blush and look away from Harry made her grin. Susan never was outgoing enough for Hannah, but she loved teasing her.

Turning back to the book, Hannah made some more notes. So far she had found some interesting stuff. The dehydration charm would preserve powders pretty well, there was a very strong cooling charm that preserved ice and milk and stuff. A warming charm for keeping food warm while cooking.

She frowned. Wasn't there something... "Hey Harry, isn't there a preservation charm that you can used in potions class? To keep potions from being messed up when you had to do other stuff?"

Harry flexed his hand, releasing the spell. While watching three books resort themselves on the table, he looked up. "Wisdom says there are two, but they are mentioned in the seventh year spell book. They may not be hard to use if we are lucky."

He thought for a second. "I assume you want to test if it works on food as well?"

Hannah shrugged. "Depends on how it works. Does it prevent potions from heating or cooling? It would have to, right? I mean, if you mix a potion the wrong way it can blow up and stuff." She waved a hand while looking in her book. "I think the potion spell might be better than half of these since it wouldn't care if the food was hot, cold, or whatever. We would only have to learn one spell."

Susan had an odd look in her eye. "How would that work though? I mean, potions are mostly goo and stuff. If you just kept the temperature the same, the stirs wouldn't work right... and some potions need to stay at the same temperature for an exact amount of time anyway."

Harry looked up, eyes wide. "Time... Well, maybe it slows time down." He grinned. "I think it is time we try some of these search charms out." He scribbled in his hand with his wand, and then waved. Three books flew to the table.

Lifting the first book up and checking the title, he grinned. "Here Hannah, Wisdom thinks this covers the potion spell you mentioned. It seems to be mostly for master level brewers." He shrugged. "Makes sense if it is a time spell. The other spell is much simpler, and basically slows the potion down just slightly to make really complicated spells easier to brew. The other two books are mentioned as having more high level brewing and ingredient preparation spells... bet some of those would work great for food as well."

Susan looked thoughtful. "If we could get that really hard one working, maybe it would work on more than just potions or food. I mean, imagine stopping a person, right? It would be like a stronger version of a stunner, and they wouldn't even know they were stunned. Or that binding spell, petrif... what was it again Hermione?"

The brown haired brown eyed girl waved a hand absently. "Petrificus Totalus, the full body-bind curse, the full body bind. Target is unable to move and is forced either to remain still or stand at attention."

Terry blinked. "I don't think she is actually paying attention. Hermione, how tall is Hogwarts?"

Again she barely moved. "It varies based on the number of students, classes offered, temperature, and number of unicorns in a 38 mile radius. Currently it averages around 700 feet tall."

Padma leaned in. "How many times do you think about horses per day?"

Hermione paused. "What? Wait, were you guys talking to me?"

Everyone shook their heads, although one or two may have been smiling.

She hesitated. "Um. Anyway, I think I found something. It is an advance copy spell that allows you to duplicate a single book many times if you have raw paper and ink." She buried her nose back in the book. "I am pretty sure that a fully copy of the book is temporarily stored in your mind for about 10 minutes after casting so you can cast the secondary spell. If we grab it before the second spell, then we should have a mental copy of the book... if my research is right..." Her words fell back into mumbling as she checked two other books.

Padma frowned. "Well, I am not sure that would help me that much."

Harry leaned on his hand, book set aside for the moment. "Maybe you could find out what spells go into paintings and portraits and pictures and stuff?" He grinned. "Maybe we could draw some of your mind animals into a painting."

She clapped. "OOO, I could have a painting of goose mountain! It looks so lovely in the evening."

Terry looked stuck somewhere between 'I don't know what you guys are talking about' and 'Why would anyone want to go to goose mountain' and decided to strike out into safe territory. "Harry, I could use a project too. What do you think I should find?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, you clearly love Quidditch. Let's learn how to make our own brooms."

Even Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

"What? These projects will take time, it isn't like we can accomplish all of them in a year." Harry stood and stretched. "The library spells we got lucky on, since they were designed to be really easy to learn and use. This other stuff may take us years honestly." He grinned. "That is what makes it valuable, no?"

Padma looked up at him. "But you seemed to do every spell easily."

"Maybe this will explain it..." Harry reached his hand out and touched his chair, transforming it into a lounge chair. "Now, I can do this easily, and it doesn't use TOO much of my energy. However, when Professor McGonagall does it, she uses a THOUSANDS TIMES LESS power than I do. She has control, so what she can do is amazing... I apparently was just brute forcing the results I wanted."

He sighed and relaxed in the chair. "I may actually have a WORSE time than you guys. I have so much power, I sometimes overload spells without even knowing it... making control one of the hardest things for me to learn. Not to mention that I am terrible at theory."

Terry grumbled. "Not surprising is it? You haven't followed the rules of magic since I met you."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, impossible stuff is the most fun stuff."

The girls giggled as they went back to reading while Terry began trying to learn the search charm. Harry's notes helped a lot, but it still required more power than the boy was used to.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Severus Snape was a dark man who lived in a dark room in a castle FULL of dunderheads. Even now he felt a deep certainty, that around certain corners would be those damn three daemons who had tormented his school year, took his girl, and had risked his life with that MONSTER. Remus Lupin would get his someday, just like that blood-traitor Sirius Black did.

He paused... and began to shiver. He had been in the middle of making some headache relief potion, using school ingredients of course. No point in using his own precious stuff, and those brats wouldn't use it right any... oh his head.

What was the next step? For a brief moment, Snape just did NOT KNOW... oh, clockwise seven and a half... of course, of course.

He was trying to not get worried. Worry was for the weak, and Severus was NOT WEAK. Not like that damn Potter brat.

POTTER. That smug boy, walking like he wasn't the spawn of that wretched man. Like he wasn't ASHAMED to be here, in the presence of his betters. If he had just died, Lily would have been his. Maybe something could be added to his drink? Just a few drops of...

Snape's head bent as pain ran through it. Right, potion first, revenge planing for later. Maybe he would just let the boy make it to a few classes, so he could punish him for all the times his blasted father got away with those DAMN pranks.

He was worried about the memory lapses. Even through torture he had not had memory issues. They had seemed to have started back when he had looked inside those clearly guilty eyes of his. Dunderhead's mind was full of stupidity. Zoo animals, thoughts about ice-cream... it was amazing the boy could walk without hitting a wall.

Snape had reported it with glee to Dumbledore. The man was out of it, but Snape's past binding oaths required him to make reports about things like this, anything Snape had discovered. Old fool had clearly gone mental at some point.

True it hadn't seemed to bother the old man much. Although he did start drawing random animals...

Snape gritted his teeth as he continued to brew. He was sure this pain was caused by having to stand the presence of that damn boy, and Snape's displeasure would be well known as soon as the boy came to class.

For once, the darkly dressed man was looking forward to classes.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione looked up after the third or so time someone had tapped her shoulder, only to see the group packed and ready to head down for dinner.

She frantically started to gather her books into a pile. "Sorry, sorry, got distracted."

Harry paused and grinned. "Well, let's wait a moment before you take half the library with you." He turned and walked over to where Madam Pince was casting silently on some returned books.

"Madam Pince, my friends and I are planning on doing some long term projects. Since we are from different houses, would it be fine if we claimed one of the desks in the library for a few months so we could keep our research and stuff in one place?"

She looked around and motioned for them to follow her. Near the back wall, next to the ropes leading into the restricted section, were a set of unlabeled doors. Madam Pince gave a serious look at them. "Mr. Potter, I have been watching you and your friends for a couple of days now. Your mother was a common sight in my domain... and I believe you may also be as trustworthy, as long as you didn't take TOO much after your father."

He grinned. "Pranks?"

She gave a sigh. "Thankfully none in the library, but yes." She waved her wand on the first door. "These are project rooms for the seventh year students. Set your wands on it and give it a name, and you shall have a room to work with." She held a finger up. "This is a privilege, not a gift, understood? If you abuse my trust in this, you will not just lose access to the project area but will have to be escorted in the library itself. Understood?"

A series of nods (Some terrified) later, and they all pressed their wands against the door. The wood seemed to flow like water as their names showed up in a list under the words "Access Granted". Harry held his wand firmly against the wood and stated "Magical Research Project".

As the words appeared on the door, Madam Pince nodded and returned to her work. Harry grinned. "Well, this seems MUCH better than my idea. Maybe we can do potion stuff here too later."

Padma looked around. It wasn't huge, but there was a big table with ten seats, several large and clear counters for things to be spread on, some shelves, and a couple of really big windows looking out at the school grounds. She began pulling some of the books out of her bag and putting them on the counter, seeing the others claim space as well. "It looks nice, with the brown wood and all. And I don't mind not having to carry all these books everywhere."

Hermione was looking at her pile with something like heartbreak in her eyes. "But which ones should I take? I had already narrowed it down to thirteen."

Harry waved his hand, having two books float to her. "Get them all eventually. These look like beginner books, so probably best to start there, no?"

Susan pulled Hannah. "Well, books and stuff later. Food now." She grinned and began pushing Harry back toward the door. He had a nice laugh.

Harry grinned. He hadn't accomplished everything he wanted, but at least he now had a place to meet up with any friends, not just Ravenclaws. He let Susan push him toward the exit and began making a mental list, trying to figure out what was most important to learn first... His biggest problem was too many choices, and right now it felt great.


	29. Breakfast and a New Friend

Harry slouched at the table. Eggs and bacon, indeed many a breakfast dish was available to him, warm and ready to go.

Wow it was early.

Padma put a few pieces of sausage on his plate. "Come on Harry, you gotta wake up at some point."

He glared at those evil intestine covered bastards. "I choose to wake up after I pass away." He nibbled one of the meaty... whatever meat was in these things. At least they tasted fine.

Terry on the other hand was grinning. "Told ya you should have gone to bed earlier."

Harry waved a hand. "No, not an option." He leaned toward Padma and whispered. "Books."

Padma shrugged. "Harry wins this argument."

Terry grinned. "Well, you may have fed your mind but now is the time to feed my belly."

Hermione absently began rolling bacon and eggs inside of what appeared to be a bread disk. Seeing the looks, she held it up. "Breakfast burrito. Healthy kinda. More importantly I can eat with one hand and keep reading."

Harry snapped awake. "You. Are. A. Genius." His head snapped to Padma. "Pass me the gravy and orange slices." Quickly turning to Terry, he pointed. "Three slices of bacon, some sausage and the grits please. Thankfully I already have some peanut butter."

Seeing the expressions of horror, he snapped his fingers. "Look, this amazingness is NOT going to happen without hard work from everyone. It will be my finest creation." His eyes glazed slightly. "If only we had some spun sugar."

A small pop and a miniature model of Hogwarts appeared, made of thin white lines.

Harry grinned and began creating a burrito that would revolutionize the world. "I love magic."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione refused to look at him all the way to Herbology, which was apparently being held in Greenhouse 3 today.

"Look, I was sure it would work. Accidents happen."

Nope, she was STILL not looking. Harry tried the big guns.

"No one was hurt. In fact, it is kind of funny if you think about it."

Oops. Got a glare that time.

Padma leaned in as they turned and avoided a fake desk. "I think she is still mad about your breakfast."

"THAT WAS NOT BREAKFAST." Her eyes were sparking. "THAT... that was WRONG."

Padma shrugged. "He offered to share."

If Hermione had been tied down, her shudder would have started an earthquake. "Oh god, I forgot you actually took a bite of it. How did you survive?"

Harry grumbled. "It was good, you just had to try it."

Padma nodded. "Yeah, it was surprising."

The brown haired angel of breakfast was not letting this go. "Look, there are certain rules. I know no one has written them down, but you should learn them and follow them. CLOSELY. And whatever you did to create that..."

"Breakfast Burrito."

"No, that was not a Burrito. For one things, Burritos shouldn't explode."

Harry sighed. "Look, I threw it away when I felt it go critical. And the only people who got hit were the two Weasley brothers."

She stood taller. "SEE!? I saw them talking to you, they were probably scared for life."

He shook his head. "They wanted the recipe."

Hermione's face went white. "Oh Merlin, it can not be made again. Never again."

Padma quickly ran interception. "Hey, there's class! Bet we get all kinds of fun homework!"

It was like a switch. Her eyes cleared, fists relaxed, and the book in her hand might live through the trauma. "That sounds... very nice. Soothing. Maybe I can write an essay."

Padma grinned. "Well, if you need a snack just ask us."

Harry quickly opened the greenhouse and ran inside. He did NOT want to be a part of that conversation anymore.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Sprout looked like a bit like a Turnip. Happy though. Being in her greenhouse meant that the sun was optional, as her smiles lit the place and made it feel like home.

This class was with Gryffindor, so Susan and Hannah would have to meet up later. At the moment, the teacher was grouping up everyone into sets of three. Terry and Hermione had joined a fairly loud boy with red hair... probably a Weasley.

Harry felt that Hermione was still not entirely happy with his breakfast choice at this point. He would have to develop that project separately if he wanted her to not have a heart attack. Still, a future of one handed foods awaited Harry, and experimentation was the FUN way to make stuff. Dangerous as hell most of the time, but what wasn't?

Padma stuck by him though. Always nice to have a fellow food lover on the team.

The new kid was a cub though. The blond boy seemed... fragile.

Harry gave a grin. "Lo! I'm Harry Potter, and this is my friend Padma Patil." Padma gave a smile and a small wave.

He seemed hesitant. "H.. Hi. I'm Neville Longbottom." He seemed to have frozen up with horror at the idea of saying anything else.

Harry gave him a firm pat on the back, ignoring his reactions. "Good to meet you, Neville. You don't happen to like strange foods for breakfast, do you?"

In the background Harry thought he heard someone giving a stressed whimper. Probably the wind.

Neville gave a hesitant look. "Well, I... I once filled a donut with eggs." God the boy needed to have more confidence. Harry wasn't sure he could convince someone the world had floors.

He grinned. "Excellent! I like an Idea man." He turned to Padma. "Donut experimentation just made it on onto our new food experiment list." He leaned in. "Between you and me, there is significant resistance from certain people when it comes to pushing the boundaries of cuisine."

Oh yeah, that sound was most certainly Hermione. And it sounded like Terry was trying to distract her from her breakfast woes by trying to convince her that a pop quiz was possible on the first day.

Neville hesitated. "Are... are you messing with that girl?"

He grinned, deviousness in his eyes. "I was at first, but now it is just too fun. Not to mention that Burrito turned out MUCH better than I thought it would."

The boy nodded. "Some landed on me. Once you get past the hot sauce and mayonnaise, I thought it was pretty nice."

Padma and Harry stared at the boy slowly turning red. Harry turned and gave Padma a serious stare. "I want to keep him." Turning back. "I am keeping you. You are now my friend. Show up in the library later."

Class happened at this point, but Harry could care less. He left Wisdom recording it as he and Wrath discussed future food projects. With TWO food lovers, the possibilities are endless.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Terry just groaned again. "Hermione, I am sure it was a bad choice, but really... how many people can take random breakfast items and make an explosive?"

She continued her grumbling. "Yes I thought that was amazing and all. But he shared it with Padma FIRST and... uh. I." She quickly turned back to class. "So, plants. Plants are interesting."

Terry grinned at the girl who was turning into a tomato. "Yep. Very."

~~~Core Threads~~~

One apology later (Which confused Harry almost as much as watching Terry giggle during it), Harry and friends moved to the Library. Library Quarters? LQ? Whatever they were going to call it, the Magic research room.

They talked about Herbology a bit, and even yelled a bit when Hermione found out that Harry had spent a good chunk of the time trying to design donuts filled with scrambled eggs and vinegar. Apparently he and Padma had lucked out, since the red haired boy (Who WAS a Weasley, named Ron) was less than perfect.

Somehow Ron had insulted BOTH partners AND gotten detention in the first four minutes of class.

Neither Terry nor Hermione would tell what he said.

Still the class had been straight forward. What they would cover, how to protect one's self. Apparently there was even an optional elective about how to protect others from fresh fruit.

Magical food was apparently dangerous to everyone at some point.

Harry had considered just inviting Neville along, but the boy seemed overwhelmed by crowds and he didn't want him to feel pushed into being a friend. At least the option was given.

He was not sure WHY he knew when people could and could not be trusted. It had to do with the way their magic felt, the way they moved, and breathing habits. Neville felt like a good person, just like his other friends.

Harry's mental wanderings fell back to reality as they entered the Magical Research Project... MRP? Merp. The Merp room. "Hey Susan, Hannah. Everyone ok with calling this the Merp room?"

Hanna paused. "Merp?"

"Magical Research Project. MRP, Merp."

She shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Padma leaned over. "Just a heads up, both of you should just avoid talking about food development today. I think storage and production are ok topics, but NOT creation of recipes at the moment."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. "Yeah... we have a cease fire at the moment. But I am sure that fine food design will arise again." Harry dodged a swat at his arm with a grin.

Susan was going through a book. "Any luck with that potion suspension spell? The really hard one?"

Harry settled into a seat near the head of the table with a sigh. "Yes and no. Wisdom helped me understand the process pretty well, but I hit some snags with it."

Hannah looked up from something she was working on in a box. "What kind of issues?"

He sighed. "Well, first of all I have never seen it cast before, so I lose the easiest way to learn it. Being able to see the magic lets me skip most of the work." Harry ran his hand through his hair. "Secondly, the master level one NEEDS to be wandless, wordless, and close to motionless. Apparently the spell requires darn near perfect amount of power. Too much and your target just... explodes basically. Too little and nothing."

Harry grinned. "On the plus side, I now know that Muffliato does a DARN good job. No one on my floor woke up at ALL last night."

He got a strange look from Padma. "How many explosions?"

The boy shrugged. "I stopped counting after thirty or so. Honestly, about twenty times after that I just started having fun causing explosions."

Padma narrowed her eyes. "I thought you were reading last night."

He nodded. "I spent most of it reading in my mind scape. I just didn't want to hurt anything casting an exploding spell in my own head. It is not like I could say any of this in the Great Hall you know."

She nodded and went back to her book. She looked again and leaned back. "Hey, let me ask something... I have been reading this book about makeup charms and spells and stuff." She ignored Terry's sniggerings. "There are a couple here that we might want to learn. Teeth cleaning, nail trimming, hair removal and such."

To Susan's surprise Harry seemed interested. He grinned. "I like the thought. I know that many people damage their teeth from pressing too hard with brushes and stuff, and I hate having to find clippers when I need a trim... Mark the pages and add it to the list."

The 'List' was a new idea. Basically they were collecting spells they thought were in three categories: Utilitarian, Game-breaking, and Fun. These daily routine charms fell nicely into the Utilitarian category... well some of them. Padma assumed Harry didn't need to know the specific spell to curl armpit hair or wax his inner ears. She found several of the spells just... silly.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an angry growl of all things. "THIS." Terry was almost shaking with anger. "ALL THIS TIME!"

Hannah poked him. "Everything green Terry?"

He frowned and turned the book toward her. "Look, there is a spell called PACK that PACKS. Like stuff into places. That means Mom could have made my room or helped me get ready in literally a single wand swish... and STILL made me reorganize my trunk by hand until she thought it was 'acceptable'."

He held his head in his hands, resting on the table. "Seriously, it is just called PACK. I... man."

Harry leaned over Hannah's shoulder. "Not just that, but it accepts the same sort of filter that the sorting spell does. In fact, it seems like another version of the sorting spell... it just moves things elsewhere instead of sorting in the same place."

The boy moved back and sat at the head of the table, pulling his wand and doodling in his hand. "I spent last night doing a lot of things, one of which was examining the sorting spell." He pointed at something the others obviously couldn't see. "So this square box shape part contains the criteria for 'I found a match' to win. Then this thread connects that to the actual searching rules in the ball shape."

Harry held his hand up and rotated his wand slightly. "The ball jumps from one object to the next, finding valid targets. Once found, the box part tests it using the threads hidden inside. If it is matched, the coil over here tags the object with some of the casters magic so they can pull the objects back to them. I think."

He doodled again. "Now, this is the Pack spell. It is missing the ball of searching rules, so I think it picks up the desired order straight from your magic. That is also how it controls where to put the things it had controlled." Harry's eyes gleamed as he compared the two spells in the air. "Hmm... It seems the pack spell needs more power, since it doesn't define what to do as well. Looks like you can either define the outcome you want, or just throw power at it and magic will figure it out by trying everything till something works."

He looked up at the others. "I love this spell, Pack. Wonder if I can alter it to do something more generic."

Hannah looked up. "Like what?"

"Well, packing is just sorting items into a container. Cleaning is sorting items in the room, such as dust and dirt being sorted to the garbage and items being sorted to where they are most used. Or something like that... the Pack spell could be the ultimate cleaning took possibly." Harry grinned at the stunned faces he was surrounded by.

Hermione almost groaned. "Why doesn't EVERY adult use pack? That seems... SO USEFUL!"

Harry shrugged. "From what I can tell, magical people tend to rely heavily on the past, on their ancestors. The pack spell may have not existed back then. It also may not be common enough that everyone runs into it... and if it isn't required on the Hogwarts syllabus, then many students wouldn't bother finding out new things about magic."

Harry paused. "It may also be a sign of culture. Remember that we magicals will live longer than non-magicals, possibly for more than 200 years. Dumbledore was alive for over 100 years easily... He was here before movies, before... I mean, he was around before basketball was invented, before phones, before zippers, before bottle caps." He looked at the partially confused pure bloods before looking back at Hermione. "The Ministry of Magic is basically full of people who where here before Airplanes. They may not even KNOW how advanced non-magicals have become in the last five years ALONE..."

She reached out and touched his shoulder. "Breath, Harry. I am sure they have talked to each other at least in the government level."

Harry took steadying breaths. In his mind, he could feel Wrath patting his shoulder. If it came down to it, he would still have options. Focus. Calm. "Anyway, my point is simple. Magical people live longer, so they feel less rushed to do things, to learn."

Susan nodded, hesitant. "So... how advanced HAVE mug... non-magicals gotten?"

Harry sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Well... They can make more food than us, although they use some chemicals that had odd side effects for a while. They move people around the world all the time now, and all you have to do is sit down until you arrive. If we are talking weapon wise, we would lose."

Seeing raised eyebrows, he shrugged. "I can show you stuff later. I however, want to focus on my dream in the future. Part of that can be accomplished by paying attention to what has changed in their world. The non-magicals have accomplished things that we never even tried, and many wizards wouldn't even consider WORTH trying."

Harry's grin grew. "Now, at this point we have a couple of amazing Game-breaking possible spells. The Stasis spell which we think stops time (Or slows it down a lot), and the Pack spell, which may be the ultimate cleaning, sorting, and moving spell. That was after only a couple of days... we need to find more."

Susan was grinning. She had been glad to join the group just to be with Hannah and get a few new friends... but now she could see this becoming life changing. Just a little poking around had turned spells most people considered boring into something amazing, and this was before Hermione perfected book memorization. The search spells alone had cut down their homework time to almost nothing compared to their classmates.

Susan looked over at the fun column of the list in the middle of the table. "I may have one for the Fun list. We used it when we were kids, we called it the snowball spell." She made the motions. "It gathers snow and makes a ball at the front. When you let go, the ball hurls where you point."

Harry's eyes grew wider. "Uh... could you show me? One second." He pointed his wand in the air and began casting water in the air. Moving the water to his hand, he quickly swished his wand and cast a beam version of a cooling charm from the book about food preservation.

The corner of the room was now very white.

Susan grinned. "Now THAT is a usefully fun spell! Can you combine them together?"

Harry paused. "... Maybe. Let me work on it tonight. Now, show me the snowball thing."

Well, it worked. And was cold. And now going down his shirt. At least he liked hearing the girls giggle. Somehow Terry laughing his bum off wasn't quite as heart warming.

One snowball and a girlish squeal from Terry later and Harry was happy.


	30. Useless Classes and Helping a Friend

Turns out that the 'Snowball Incident' as it would become known had a tendency to escalate.

Thankfully Hermione had used the Pack spell (HOW did she learn them this quickly? Harry had only HEARD of the spell that hour) to move all the books against the wall to protect them.

Even more wonderful, she knew a spell to dry off clothing, which Harry used and overpowered to dry out the room before Madam Pince decided to visit the snowtastraphie.

Harry felt it was a win. He had even found that the spell could be slightly modified, so that his left hand continuously gathered snow while the right hand fired pretty quickly.

Everyone pretty much ganged up on him after that though.

If Madam Pince thought anything was off about six kids coming out of a room shivering and laughing, she was nice enough to simply give a reminder to keep the noise down.

Harry on the other hand had a new personal project. He wanted to combine the water creation, dispersion into snow, and collection into a ball spell into a single charm. Jim would probably have a white evening tonight.

The whole group had the next class, History of Magic together, so they wandered in the right direction. At this point they all knew to just follow Harry and hope for the best, so while they DID have to walk around a single pillar five times, they still ended up in the right classroom first.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Oh sweet Merlin, WHY did Harry come to this class EARLY! The teacher was a GHOST, and worse he was just quoting the stupid book! His look of horror to Hermione was returned, she ALSO recognized his word for word rendition of 'Why should I bother changing the pitch of my voice' as our text.

The first twenty minutes or so was just full of confusion. As time went on Harry could FEEL people beginning to beg for floods, fire from the skies, even homework from another class, ANYTHING to distract them from this slow moving floating jerk who was killing them so slowly.

Finally in a fit of desperation Harry opened connections to his friends and dived inward for safety.

Padma dived through her door, nearly knocking over Harry and Wisdom. "Oh dear LORD what is wrong with that man?"

Susan had much more dignity as she walked into Harry's mind. "That is the worst teacher... can we call him a teacher?"

Hannah took a seat and waved at Jim, who was working with Delta squad on fencing practice. "Well, he was at one point. The weird thing is I thought some of what he said sounded familiar."

Harry flipped a copy of the class text. "Go to page 12, that is where he is so far. Word for word at the moment."

Hermione seemed VERY annoyed. "I... He... THAT..." She took a few breaths. "Ok, calm. Peace. I can do this. One of my core grades is reliant on a teacher who has no opinion but quoting our book." Her eyebrow started twitching.

Harry quickly stepped in. "Hermione, I am planning on contacting the Ministry and gathering a list of all books suggested for those who are home-schooled to pass this class. Would you like to borrow my copies when I finish memorizing them? We should be able to get perfect O's since this whole thing is all memorization and recall."

Her stress washed away like a block of ice on a grill. "Thanks Harry. I had to give up being a Dentist like my parents to learn magic, and I don't like being short-changed with sub-par learning."

He tilted his head. "Well, wizards and witches live twice as long as non-magicals. No reason you can't become a dentist after getting your newts done, right?" Harry shrugged, his left hand reaching out and accepting Tea from the tall thin man behind him. "I bet we could test out of a lot of classes too after a bit of studying."

Harry sipped his tea before noticing Terry's look of... fear? Oh. Right, had he introduced them to Wrath?

Susan could barely breath. How long had that... person? Where did he... Behind harry was a tall man in a suit. His face was similar to a skull, his neck was so thin she could see bones outlined. Each hand... oh his hands.

But the worst was his eyes. Black, empty, dark, deep... with an ember of green, watching her. Just floating in the center, focused on each of them. Measuring them.

She looked back at Harry... who was perfectly fine with this. He was even drinking the tea that creature had given him.

Wrath stood tall again. "Good day to everyone, it is nice to see each of you in such fine health since we last talked."

Something in Susan relaxed. She could feel how dangerous, how twisted this person could be... but he was not. He was choosing not to be what he could become. She gave a hesitant smile. "G... Good Day, Mr. Wrath. We have not heard from you since you woke Harry that..."

Her breath caught. The eyes were on her... and they had fear? Of her? Oh. No, not her.

Harry was looking up at Wrath with a devious grin on his face. "Thank you Susan, I forgot about that. That wasn't because someone misfiled something in the library, was it?"

Oh yes, there was more than a little fear in his eyes now. Wisdom seemed to be giggling about it though.

Harry placed his tea on a table that was next to Wisdom. "Wisdom, I have just recently learned the most delightful spell. Would you care to join me in a bit of mental exercise?"

Her grin was almost as wide as Harry's. "I haven't combined them yet, but I believe I can help out with deployment."

Harry snapped his fingers.

Snow fell.

It didn't drift one flake at a time. Three feet of snow smashed into Wrath, avoiding all other people, buildings, and ducks.

To his credit, Wrath was still standing as an elegant butler would... until he saw everyone start summoning snowballs.

Harry leaned over to Padma. "Use a rope to pull the snow in, and then SNAP it off to launch it forward. No wand needed and you get two hands. The machine gun technique is much harder, but we can practice it later." He waved his arm and Wrath's shirt gained some red and white circles with numbers in them.

He grinned. "Wrath, you may wish to start running. You are allowed to retaliate only by building walls and throwing snowballs by hand."

Susan was grinning even as she tried to give a bit of help. "Shouldn't you let him do the snowball thing you do back?"

Harry shook his head. "Don't underestimate my Wrath. We have been together a long time, but even I am not always able to beat him." He grinned. "But then again, who wants to play fair? EVERYONE START LAUNCHING!"

It got harder to throw snow after a few hours because watching tiny ducks hurl snow at a running skeletal butler was surprisingly humorous to the group.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Everyone collapsed into comfy chairs. Wrath was once again behind Harry on his right, although there was still some snow in his wild black hair.

Harry grinned. "Thanks for letting us wind down, Wrath."

The tall being smiled, somehow seeming warm. "Of course, Master. I know how stressful it was with that ghost of a teacher. You never were a fan of ghosts to begin with."

Hannah giggled. "Yeah, I figured you were letting us hit you. I know I saw you move really fast when Terry tried to poke Harry with a pillow."

Susan was idly practicing her thread control by juggling some snowballs. "He still got us. Each one he threw hit his mark."

Padma grinned. "Yeah, but it is more fun to do stupid stuff like this with friends, you know? And I'm sure Wrath wouldn't want to be stuck out in the darkness all the time."

Wrath gave a grin that showed sharp teeth. "Actually, it is pretty soothing. I find the darkness to be quite a friend." His smile became much less shark-like. "And I did enjoy spending time with the Master. Now that he has companions, we have both gotten a chance to spend some time alone. It was nice."

Harry grinned and tossed his empty tea cup at the being. "Pratt."

Wrath caught the cup expertly, which then vanished. "Indeed sir."

Terry sighed. "Man, this class is taking forever. How much longer is it?"

Harry looked at Jim.

"Quack."

He nodded. "Jim says we have been in here for 8 minutes so far." Seeing the horrified looks on everyones face, he grinned. "Well, we can always head to someone else's mind. I think Hermione's is only twice normal time rate cause of all the stuff in there." He looked toward Padma. "Of course, I would vote for Padma's world. Cute animals? Of course!"

Hermione sighed. "I think I will go work on my mind world actually. I want to show you guys what I did when it is finished, and I am not there yet. At least this class time won't go to waste."

Susan shrugged. "I feel up for some baby animals."

Terry Headed toward the door with a P on it. "Fine by me. Any kittens Padma?"

Harry laughed. "You guys just don't even know."

~~~Core Threads~~~

THANKFULLY Professor Binns' class was over. Clearly this ghost should move on... not one sentence differed from the text.

Harry stretched, before joining his friends and leading as they opened paintings and slid around invisible walls while heading to Defense against the Dark Arts. "Well, History is a loss, but I KNOW this one should be interesting. Maybe they have duels and stuff?"

Susan shrugged. "Don't know much about Professor Quirrell really. He has that odd turban and smells like garlic. Something about vampires I heard."

Hannah chipped in. "He has a really bad stutter too. Hope he has lots of written stuff for us to look at."

~~~Core Threads~~~

"Ok, so we all agree that today was a waste of all of our time, yes?"

Angry, sad, and other such nods went around the group.

Quirrell stuttered so bad that he may as well have just pretended to be mute. The entire classroom (Round, with a low roof) was filled with the smell of onions, garlic, and even compost. Harry's eyes had started watering.

Hermione couldn't even try and answer questions because half the time no one even realized the strange wizard had ASKED something.

Harry sighed. "We have to bring this up. It is just... URGH. I know, maybe we can ask if we can just take our OWL's test early." Ordinary Wizarding Levels were required by law for wizards and witches to own wands and use magic, so they couldn't just skip the class.

Hannah bit her lip. "Would we be able to pass it?"

Harry grinned. "After Wisdom tutors you? No way you would get less than an E. Probably get an O, no doubt." He sighed, some of the energy leaving him... "Can't do the same with DaDA... DaDa? Merlin that is a terrible initialism. Anyway, can't skip Papa class or test out until we can understand the teacher and make sure he is actually as incompetent as he seems."

None of the group noticed a turban moving away in anger around the corner.

Harry sighed. "I guess we should bring this up with our heads of houses first. It will probably get up to Professor McGonagall pretty quickly after that."

Susan looked at Hermione. "Weren't you trying that speech to text spell during class? How did that go?"

If anything, she looked MORE downtrodden. "It actually WROTE 'mumblemumble' all over. I have NO idea what that crazy man wrote."

Harry patted her shoulder. "Well, we have time for books and stuff. Why don't we..." Wait.

'Quack.'

'Thanks for the heads up. Think I should do something?'

'Quack.'

'Yeah, good point. We will head up there.'

"Everything green Harry?" Padma was a bit closer than Harry expected.

He gave a small, slightly sad smile. "A friend of mine is being picked on. I want to go pick him up... would it be alright if we invited him with us in the library?"

Several eyes went a bit hard at the idea of someone being bullied. Hermione gave a firm nod. "Of course Harry. Lead the way."

Harry felt the thread, following it around some statues, under a staircase, and through a fake wall before he reached an almost deserted hallway.

Draco Malfoy and his two meat puppets were laughing at a boy who had clearly been pushed to the ground.

Harry heard the git sneer at the child at his feet. "At least now you are where you belong, at the feet of Purity. A squib like you are a shame to your blood-traitor parents."

Harry stood straight, and stepped back. Wrath could handle this.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Neville Longbottom had handled many of his trials so far. The rude and unthinking comments from Ron had made things tough, and the rest of the house considered him barely above a squib. But he had stayed firm.

When he had reached the common room and found out the password changed, he couldn't get the older students to listen to him. He had gone down the hall to try and find someone his age...

His eyes were on the floor. The physical assault wasn't much, but the words... Draco was saying things he whispered to himself at night sometimes. Dark fears. He could fight pain, but his heart hurt too.

"Oh dear. Mr. Malfoy, I am afraid you have been impolite."

Neville looked up and saw Draco turn white. It looked like his skin was dipped in milk. From behind him and the two now frozen boys was someone... he couldn't quite seem him.

"Three on one, Mr. Malfoy? I see you are not confident in your abilities. I am glad you are aware of your own weakness."

Neville knew it wasn't directed at him and he STILL felt shivers in his spine. This voice had age, experience, and it was judging Draco Malfoy lacking. VERY lacking.

"Run along, Mr. Malfoy. You know how dangerous this castle can be for some people."

Draco turned... It was the body of Harry Potter. It had to be his body, for his flesh was like a corpse wrapped around the THING that was now looking upon him with such sadness. The worst was Harry's left eye... His right was glowing green, full of sadness... but the left was an abyss, darkness, the end. And dying inside that dark was an ember of green.

Harry's left eye was watching Draco, and Draco could not move. His bones were stone, his skin was freezing, and bone hands were on his shoulders. The words seemed to live inside his skin.

"You may leave, Mr. Malfoy. Have a pleasant afternoon." The thing paused. "Oh... and do leave Mr. Longbottom alone. The boy has greatness inside him."

Neville looked at what was likely Harry Potter. Somehow those words felt more true than anything he had ever heard. This was not an opinion, this was not a question. Inside Neville Longbottom was greatness, just like outside there was sunlight.

He didn't even notice when the three terrified boys ran past.

Harry smiled, transforming almost instantly back to the boy Neville had worked with early that same day. The change was almost as disturbing as the aristocratic way he had terrorized the children. "Neville, I would like to invite you to join my friends on a trip to the library. It should be interesting, if you wish to join us."

Neville had barely noticed the boy and girls surrounding Harry. They also seemed to be recovering a bit from the amount of energy that had filled the hall. He gave a hesitant smile. "S... Sure Harry. I would like to go."

Harry grinned. "And if you are worried about that squib thing, I may have a solution for you. Turns out that I have a bit of a trick when it comes to doing the impossible."

The young boy with only a toad for a friend gave a silent vow that if Harry Potter could help him, Neville Longbottom would never give him cause to regret it.

~~~Core Threads~~~

"So are we going to talk about the whole 'I became Wrath' thing?" Hermione seemed a bit hesitant.

Harry shrugged. "Sure. Ask away."

Hannah giggled. "Ok. What's up with the whole 'I became Wrath' thing?"

Harry pointed at his head. "When I gave Wrath my darkness, I also gave him my fighting abilities and my desire to protect others." He shrugged. "To be honest, it is better this way. I mean, if it was up to ME, with NO restrictions, I would have probably hurt Draco. Badly. Possibly permanently."

Neville felt shocked. "You would have killed him?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah, he is just a kid mouthing off what his parents tell him. But I might have turned him into a squib, or disabled his ability to use a wand."

He noticed that only Hermione was still walking. He raised an eyebrow at the shock. "What? If I can fix magical cores and allow your wands to sync with you perfectly, of course I can do the opposite."

Neville shuddered. "I think many pure bloods would prefer death to that."

Harry sighed. "Well that is just silly. There is more important things than magic."

Terry walked closer. "Like what?"

Harry seemed to shrink a bit. "Family." He shook himself a bit. "And friends. Helping people. Magic can be a great tool, but I can do a lot even without it."

Hermione grinned. "You can also fix teeth without magic."

Harry was starting to get into it. "And fly without magic."

"And cook amazing food without magic."

"And launch a goat into orbit without magic."

"And... wait, what?"

Harry waved his arms. "WELCOME to the library! Everyone be very quiet, don't want to disturb Madam Pince."

Neville felt caught up in the rhythm of the group. There was some sort of energy here, like something new was just beyond reach but getting closer. It was kind of sad to realize everyone now felt closer to him than his own house.

Susan stayed close to Neville. Something felt right about helping him, so she intended to do it. Didn't hurt that he was a bit cute. She grinned. "Welcome to the Merp Room!"

Neville gave her a bit of a confused look that she found adorable. "Merp?"

Hannah raised a hand to Padma. "MERP!"

Padma completed the high five. "MERP!"

Hermione held her face, massaging her forehead. "Fine. Merp."

Harry slapped her shoulder. "Well done Mione! MERP INDEED!" He grinned at Neville who was VERY confused now. "Stands for Magic Research Project. We are learning how magic... does."

The confused boy waited, but that seemed to be it. "How it does what?"

Harry grinned. "AND MUCH MORE!"

This time Hermione DID thwap him on the arm. She was smiling though. "All right, we should meet up in Harry's mind so he can fix up Neville."

The poor boy barely had time to ask 'Merp?' before he was pulled into Harry's world.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Neville was actually doing pretty well with the coping, at least Harry thought so.

Still, they couldn't stand around staring with mouths open ALL day.

Harry grinned. "Welcome to my mind scape. A world created in and containing my mind." He waved a hand behind them, where wooden doors with letters stood. "As you see, I have connected the rest of the groups minds together so they can join us."

Neville realized that at some point Susan had gotten beside him and seemed to be offering moral support.

He had never felt so grateful before.

Harry on the other hand seemed to be on some sort of sugar high. "I love this part, I really do. Neville, look at your chest. That is your magic."

Neville looked down... it was WILD. A thick and DARK blue, almost black, made of dozens of thick ropes. There was some sort of sphere and it was fury with threads.

Harry pointed. "As you can see, you are... well, pretty much a powerhouse. Compared to normal wizards you are REALLY powerful."

The boy looked up at Harry... and he had no threads at all? "Harry, don't you have... like, ribbons and threads and stuff too?"

Harry shrugged. "I have them when I need them. After creating Wrath... uh, you met him earlier. After making him, my magic got much more stable. I wasn't fighting myself anymore."

Hermione almost stumbled. "Wait, you mean you were NOT at full power when we met you?"

He nodded. "Barely at half. I feel much better now." He waved his arm... the ARM had an after image. His magic was FILLING his body, molded to it. "Frankly getting to this point caused a lot of pain. What little bits of me were not filled with magic got flooded. I wouldn't suggest it."

Harry looked back at Neville. "Now here is the part that is confusing me. You are clearly powerful, yet you have problems doing spells?"

Neville gripped his wand, which somehow had appeared. Harry had mentioned earlier he could make wands match, right? "Well... my parents were badly injured when I was young. I use my father's wand in memory of how he used to be." He looked at the worn wood. "I... I know I could put it away and be stronger, but I don't want to put Dad away."

Neville felt Susan hug him. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, the hug or realizing he was crying.

Harry noticed the emotions on Susan's face as well. He gave a small smile. "Neville, I am not really able to mess with the binding of wands to men... not directly. Susan, would you be willing to help me with this?"

Neville felt the arms tighten for a moment. "I would be glad to help, Harry. What do you need me to do?"

Harry moved her in front of the nervous boy. "Grab the end of Neville's wand while he holds it. I will press my hand on your back, and guide your magic to fix his wand binding." Harry looked her in the eyes. "Is this acceptable, Ms. Susan Bones? I will only do this if it is both of your wishes."

Susan was DESPERATLY not looking at Hannah as she nodded. Somehow she could STILL feel her grin and wink. Merlin her face must be red.

Neville was not sure why Harry was making such a big deal about this... until the first purple thread of Susan's touched his core.

Yep, lots of blushing for everyone. And a Hannah winking at Harry was NOT helping the process. Strangely enough, Padma's giggling DID help in some small way.

After the three recovered a bit, Neville coughed slightly. "Um... how many of those brown threads are we doing this for?"

Harry shrugged. "All of them. You ok to continue?"

The boy's blushing nod actually made Susan smile a bit more through her own blush. She wasn't sure she could talk without squeaking right now... and she was going to smack Hannah with a pillow SO HARD tonight. Friends could be such... Anyway.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Neville's smile could have powered the world when he returned to the waking world. At least, until he looked at Susan.

Thankfully their blushes could more than pick up the slack. He also seemed slightly relieved that she was still smiling at him.

Hannah on the other hand was nudging Susan's ribs and making eyebrow gestures until Harry threw a snowball.

Seeing Hermione's look of surprise he grinned. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Wisdom figured out how to combine the spells? We now have a snowball hex."

The ensuing fight took many good students down. Not for long, but still.

Finally Harry waved his hand, drying everyone. "Well, I think that next time Merp gets together, we should all show off some of the neat things we are working on to our new friend Neville. All in favor?"

Many hands went up.

"All opposed?"

Susan's hand went up. "Can't we show him now?"

Harry shook his head. "We've got 30 minutes until curfew at this point. Oh, and Neville, Gryffindor's password tonight is 'Quidditch' of all things."

They ignored Terry's whoop.

"Anyway, we will drop you off, then Susan and Hannah..." He noticed the two looking. "On second thought, you will come help us drop Susan and Hannah of at Hufflepuff, THEN we will drop you at the Lion's Den, then we take a well deserved nap."

THAT had two people looking happy. Harry grinned. He was glad Susan had made a connection with Neville, although it may be hard to explain to others how it had started. His grin turned into a huge blush. MAN that was embarrassing. He had thought he had found a clever work around, he would help Susan (Still felt... well, interesting to say the least) who would help Neville.

Somehow working his magic THROUGH Susan had made everything, including sensations, more intense.

Also, Harry suspected that Hermione, Padma, and Hannah had gotten some sort of feedback of his feelings through their mental connection, because they kept blushing when they looked at him now.

Thankfully his blush was so solid no one could tell when it got worse as he looked at the girls. Well, he hoped so anyway. Still, a pretty amazing day all things considered.

Harry led his team to their towers and followed Terry up to the dorms. As he reached his bed he could feel the strain of all that magic finally settling on his bones. Today had a LOT of magic usage in it, but it had all been a fairly amazing adventure really. The boy fell asleep with a bit of song in his heart and a smile on his face.


	31. Joys of Almost Flight

Harry fought gravity, sunlight, and an overly polite Wrath as he stumbled into the common room. The only new class today was Astronomy, although there was a one time Flying class after lunch. Flying...

He frowned. Flying seemed cool, but he would be vulnerable. On the ground his ropes could hold him in place, in the air... well, much harder to defend himself at least, probably.

Further thought was pushed aside by Padma poking his neck. "Yeah, he is awake, just grumpy."

Harry swatted her hand and turned to Terry and Hermione who were REALLY trying to be quite as they giggled.

"Food. Otherwise, let me sleep."

Padma began poking faster, matching some song in her head. "Yes, Harry. Food."

He sighed and moved out of the common room, being poked along the way.

Terry gave a smirk. "Look at it this way Harry, you have a new day to try some strange combination of food, right?"

Hermione's face of horror actually made Harry give a rough chuckle. "Thanks Terry, sometimes I forget the important things."

With an absent wave of his hand a wall opened and once again his friends followed the twists and turns of a magical building in a desperate attempt to find bacon.

Padma had been pretty quite, happy to randomly poke Harry or watch the old portraits that they passed. "Hey, I think I remember this passage... didn't we go this way a day or so ago?"

The boy nodded as he ducked under a floating plant. "Yes, this passage only opens on Sundays and in the morning when the previous evening had no one in the fifth floor hallway." He waved a hand vaguely pointing to the right. "Took me forever to figure it out, but something in that hall is counting people. Probably a painting or something."

Terry was now watching the twisted path they were wandering with more awe. "Man, how do you keep track of it all?"

Harry absently reached between them and acted like he was plucking a string. Bright light shimmered in a thread between the two boys. "As I meet people, I tag them with a thread. Let's me keep track of my surroundings. Really useful when I was younger and trying to avoid bullies, although I apparently did it unconsciously back then."

Hermione had a spark in her eye. "How many people have you tagged?"

He shrugged. "Above a couple of thousand so far. Not that many in the castle of course, well not yet. Mostly people I went to school with, friends and their families, you know." He waved a hand absently at the corridor, and they saw a pair of threads floating up through the roof. "Those two are the Weasley Twins. They used this passage way a couple of times before I got interested in it. They really seem to know their way around."

There was a bit of a discussion about privacy, why Harry didn't really care about it that much, and how useful it could be for maps, finding people and things, and so forth. Thankfully most of the conversation started falling into other topics when Harry got to the Great Hall and began putting peaches in his milk.

~~~Core Threads~~~

First came the dreaded flying class. The idea of Harry thrusting wood between his legs and LIFTING himself that way sounded... painful. The fact that no one else wanted to protect their bits was also more than a little disturbing to him.

Everyone was outside where some really old brooms were laying on the ground, clearly waiting to be shot and put out of their misery. This class was Harry's first one with Slytherins, and so far it wasn't the best impression.

In an effort to NOT continue years of segregation, Harry dragged Padma over to the side that the green robes were waiting.

The witch next to him was actually quite pretty, although her face was set with a raised eyebrow. "Lost, Potter?"

He gave a grin. "Why no, but thank you Greengrass." He gave a small chuckle at her suppressed shock at him knowing her name. "That aside, I was a bit annoyed at how... one sided this class is becoming. Us and them is not exactly the best atmosphere to build friendships and future connections, no?"

A cautious nod brought another smile out of Harry, for a moment.

"HEY RAVENCLAW DORK, back off from her." Inwardly Harry sighed and turned.

Draco's face fell like a brick. "W... oh. Sorry, I was... bye."

Padma giggled a bit while Harry rubbed his eyebrows. "That boy just does not learn, does he? How many times will I have to reprimand him before he grows up?" He gave a surprisingly old look at the stunned Slytherin beauty beside him. "Do I have a sign that says 'Please bother me' on it, or do I just attract this stuff?"

Her face twitched before she could hide the smile completely. "I am sure you earn all your troubles at some point, Mr. Potter."

His face relaxed into a smile. "Please, call me Harry. And would you be Ms. Davis?"

Daphne Greengrass realized that right behind her, bouncing on her feet like she had a question with a huge smirk on her face, was her FORMERLY best friend Tracy Davis. Soon to be formerly ALIVE friend if she said anything...

"SO you two dating yet?"

Yes, dead. Her self control almost completely blocked the blush, thank goodness.

Harry gave a big grin. "Nope, but I have time yet, class just started."

Well, so much for blocking that cursed blush. Padma was joined by Tracy in giggling sisterhood, and NEITHER of them were paying attention to the expertly crafted Glare Of Doom that was aimed at their hearts.

She settled herself the best she could. "I am not sure there will ever be enough time for that, Potter."

Damn his grin. "Ah, so we just need more time then? Well, I might not wait forever you know."

Her sputtered reaction was put on hold by a woman with golden eyes arriving. "Everyone settle. I am Madam Hooch and today all of you will be learning to fly." She gestured to the sad brooms. "Each of you stand by one of these broomsticks."

Padma seemed to be having fun making faces at Hermione, since they were across from each other. Harry tried to focus on his broom, while ignoring the glares from the young lady beside him.

Madam Hooch seemed pleased at how everyone was set up. "No, take your right hand over your broom and command 'UP'. It is a will thing, really."

As Harry watched, a sickly brown thread tried to reach up to his hand... it was almost too sad to watch. In pity, he pushed a few ropes into it.

Daphne had just gotten her broom to reach her hand when she heard a gasp and turned.

Harry's eyes were glowing. A rich and deep green seemed to shine from his orbs, as his right hand floated a foot above his broom. As she watched his broom began glowing, sections of runes and flashes of colors sparking as his broom began growing, flowing, reshaping. Twigs straightened, cracks shrank or seemed to seal... as his gaze faded the broom seemed to pulse with power.

"Harry, could you do my broom too? Frankly this one scares me a bit." Padma thrust a broom with an obvious crack near the bristles at him, as if a glowing god fixing brooms was an everyday thing.

Oh Merlin, his smile.

"No problem, Padma. Hermione, Terry, would you like your brooms fixed as well?"

Daphne looked at the other two while in shock. They were actually IGNORING Harry in favor of glaring at their brooms. Terry spoke up first. "PLEASE Harry, I feel like mine died years ago."

Daphne barely realized when the boy turned, but suddenly her world was full of green eyes. "Daphne, would you care for me to work on your broom as well?"

Thankfully her new BEST FRIEND Tracy piped up. "PLEASE Harry, and mine too. These things are deathtraps."

Those eyes should be illegal.

Harry chuckled as his waved his hand over the brooms near him. Each one had a weakened core, so he just used some of his own power to supplement the broom's power the same way he powered the Red Network at home. Connect two threads, pump a bit of energy in, then cut it.

There MAY have been a moment where he had been concerned about exploding his broom, but that was fixed hopefully before anyone noticed. The rest was as easy as fixing NORMAL furniture and stuff, he just had to make sure to reinforced each spell enchanted on the object as he went. Under a band of metal near the tail he also felt some runes, which he deepened and powered. No real clue what those did, but they should probably still be there.

As the last broom in his group finished, he watched the glow settle into the wood. Maybe he should try duplicating it or messing with the spells, now that he had some...

"AMAZING Mr. Potter!"

OH MERLIN HIS HEART! 'JIM, why didn't you TELL me she was behind me?'

'Quack.'

Stupid smug duck. "Sorry for distracting the class Madam Hooch, I was concerned our brooms were failing so I was fixing them."

Her eyes, eagle shaped and golden, seemed fastened on the brooms. "That is... I mean, Amazing. What spells did you use?"

He rubbed his hand through his hair, feeling embarrassed. "I uh... I forgot to use my wand. Sorry, I already had my hand over it and stuff." He turned to the broom, missing MANY expressions that sentence had caused. "Anyway, I just repaired the wood by shrinking the stick a bit, repaired the straw, deepened the runes under this metal so they were not so faded, and filled it with more magic since the stuff inside was starting to fade."

He felt a hand on his shoulder as he knelt looking at the most recently repaired broom. Daphne was trying not to giggle. "Harry, you may have broken the teacher."

He looked over his shoulder... Oh bloody hell.

~~~Core Threads~~~

After a bit of brain resetting occurred, Madam Hooch had brought out a LOT more brooms and had a grin on her face. "Mr. Potter, I will give you 100 house points if you repair these. The class can wait, I have been trying to get the governor board to approve replacing these things forever. Hopefully you can make these safe."

He saw a disturbingly large pile. "Do you have more? I could use them as raw materials to repair the others."

Her grin was almost feral. A few wand motions and a MOUND of broken brooms, random pieces of straw, and probably a few broken dreams appeared next to the brooms. Much of it was just wood at this point.

He waved a hand and missed her expression as the pile began forming into large blocks of wood and a pile of straw. As he focused on the pile, he continued. "I can tell we have a bunch of types of brooms. What is the best one we have right now? I can probably duplicate it with all this material to work with."

Madam Hooch started to point toward one of the Cleansweeps before she paused. If he could duplicate brooms... "One moment Mr. Potter."

He barely heard her as the large pile continued to separate. This wood felt interesting, like it was hugging his threads as he separated it... somehow it felt HAPPY to be used for repairing fellow brooms.

Suddenly he felt the teacher returning. She had a grin as she passed him a broom that GLOWED with power. "Can you change them to match this one, Mr. Potter?"

He glanced at it. "Nimbus 2000? Sounds nifty, let me see what I can do."

~~~Core Threads~~~

The rest of the students were just kind of lost. One moment they were about to learn to fly, the next they were being told to do nothing after Harry did something to a few of the brooms.

Daphne was trying to ignore increasing levels of teasing from Tracy. It wasn't easy though, especially now that she and a girl named Padma were giggling over the whole situation.

A claw with bushy brown hair gave Daphne a sympathetic look. "Harry teased you a bit?"

She gave a slight sigh. "Is he always like that? It was a bit... what was that whole glowing broom thing anyway?"

She shrugged. "Harry pretty much lives doing stuff we have never seen before." She held out a hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

Daphne shook back, keeping her eyes open. "Daphne Greengrass. Are the other stories passing around school also true?" She raised an eyebrow. "I have heard some interesting things about his Transfiguration class."

She giggled. "Yeah, Harry was actually really sad about that. He has a real problem remembering to use his wand." Hermione grinned. "He actually taught a few of us how to do a few of the things he can do... well, sort of anyway."

Tracy leaned in. "So... think he will teach a couple of snakes?"

The look Hermione gave them had something cold in it for a moment. "Maybe. You two are not bullies, are you?" Her face looked a bit serious. "I saw what Harry does to people who are bullies. It is a bit... frightening."

Daphne bit her lip. "He doesn't... um. Does he threaten people?"

She shook her head. "Worse, makes them feel guilty somehow. Wasn't even directed at me and I felt ashamed to be in the area." Hermione shivered. "When Harry likes you, the world is full of sunlight and stuff... but you saw how Draco acts around him, right?"

Before Daphne could really respond, everyone in the area burst into conversations, seeing Madam Hooch who was almost skipping and Harry Potter being followed by a small army of brooms.

~~~Core Threads~~~

The Nimbus felt strange to Harry. There was some strange pattern inside the shaft, shaped similar to the inside of some of the wands he had used back in Diagon Alley. There were many more runes near the bristles, and the complexity and number of charms on the wood and even on the twigs were amazing. Still the magic in the broom itself seemed like new, and connected in several places to the charms and enchantments on the broom.

One of the larger differences was a small set of runes that was on some of the school brooms. When Harry examined those runes, he could feel that magic going through it could be artificially restricted to control maximum speed, height, and turning speed. The Nimbus on the other hand seemed designed to have as little as possible on it. Even the cushioning was trimmed.

As Harry took one of the older brooms and used scrap to duplicate the shape and length of the Nimbus, he absently added on the speed and power restriction runes and increased the quality of the cushioning charms to be like the ones he felt on some of the other brooms. It needed more power added to the core of his creation, but power was never an issue for him before.

Duplicating spells turned out to be much easier when he had existing examples to play with. Even as Madam Hooch watched with awe in her eyes and a grin, his hands glowed as a glowing broom changed shape in his hands. As he finished he pushed feelings of calmness, of peace and safety into the core of his creation, and colored the wood a dark blue with silver twigs at the end. Solid white letters spelled "Ravenclaw" where "Nimbus 2000" was etched into her broom.

He grinned as his fingers felt for imperfections. "How many do you need for each house? Maybe one just for the referee?"

Madam Hooch gave him an actual hug. "Young man, you are precious. Make 15 for each school and you can fly however you want for the entire period, as long as you do it safely. Heck, you can make one just for yourself and keep it WITH the 100 points."

He jerked. "Isn't there a rule that you have to be a second year to own a broom?"

She snorted. "Pretty sure we never had 11 year old broom builders before, exceptions are SUPPOSED to be unusual." She touched a small Hogwarts logo near the twigs softly. "What did you do to this logo?"

Harry shrugged as another Ravenclaw broom was being constructed from the pile of brooms. "There are restriction runes there. Press it with your wand and tell it max speed, turning radius, and height in that order. You can also clear it by request." He pointed at he stick itself as his other hand continued construction. "I also improved the cushioning charm, which required me to increase how much magic is embedded in the core of the broom."

She grinned as she touched the raised logo. "I will have to pass on a message to Nimbus. You can probably expect someone to come down and beg for your permission to use the new design."

Seeing his raised eyebrow, she grinned. "Think boy, a Nimbus broom design modified by the Boy-Who-Lived? It would outsell the rest of the market easily."

He grinned back. "I bet I could donate my chunk to the school too, maybe prevent this from happening again... Let me see the letter before you owl it and I will sign it too."

After MANY new brooms were created Harry absently raised a hand as he and Madam Hooch walked back to the class which had fallen into small gossiping groups. A good number of Ravenclaw and Slytherin brooms followed behind the two as Madam Hooch examined her new referee broom, designed to be bright orange so players would see her more easily.

That was probably why she didn't notice an army of brooms following along, although Harry remembered to pretend and use his wand this time. No one noticed the wand-less thing, right?

He sighed. Harry was not really good at subtle.


	32. Snow Problem and Practicing Defense

Harry was just ignoring his friends at this point.

Padma of course took this to mean poking was back in season. Susan and Hermione were both trying to stay awake. Terry was playing with his telescope, waiting for Astronomy to start. Hannah kept grinning at Harry's annoyance.

Hermione sighed. "Look Harry, this stuff will keep happening because... well, you are just different." She waved off his glare. "All the other students just fly during that class, sometimes fall, or whatever. You rebuilt the schools broom supply using wand-less magic. I mean, that just is different, right?"

Padma nodded, poking Harry's neck. "Yep. Course, different is cool."

Harry relaxed a bit. "Thanks. I just... sometimes I do stuff without really thinking about all the repercussions."

Terry grinned. "Aww, the Claw is a bit of a Cub."

Harry waved his hand, and a snowball smacked Terry in the face. Ignoring the funny noises the boy started to make, he tried to focus more on the class. "So what is the point of this one again? Why do we learn about the stars and stuff?"

Hermione stretched a bit. "Well, there are magical stars and stuff. If they have flares then magic here can go off. Stronger or weaker, or with strange results. A lot of really powerful or fickle rituals need specific amounts of solar magic or it will do odd stuff."

Hannah was grinning. "Mione, that was... I followed that! You've been practicing putting stuff in basic terms!"

Hermione blushed and looked away. "Yeah yeah. Harry gave me a book about teaching that covered the topic."

The boy in question nodded, somehow also dodging a fairly large snowball being launched by Terry. "Yeah, I want to be a healer at some point and teaching others goes well with the job. I found that just repeating raw knowledge doesn't do as much good as paraphrasing just the cool stuff into easy to remember chunks." A snowball almost hit him in the eye when it paused.

Lifting it with a rope so Harry could see a giggling Padma he raised an eyebrow. "Oh my. This means war."

Suddenly his team looked nervous as over six snowballs began forming in mid air around his left wrist. As he lifted his hand and pointed, Terry gave a brave shout. "Ladies, as we die today we shall pass the snowball on for future generations!"

Any reaction to that was muted as the other students in the classroom realized that snowballs were beginning to invade the room.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Aurora Sinistra reached the top of the Astronomy tower and paused.

Silence whipped through the class. Snow was everywhere, there where walls built here and there, some ice defenses, a fairly large snow duck, and a large feeling of 'Oops, were we caught?' flowing through the area.

She looked out toward the forest. Yes, still above freezing. Snow had to be a spell.

She sighed. "Alright, who started it?"

Everyone's head turned to a boy with about eight snowballs hovering around him, a ninth one in his hand ready to throw. Noticing the looks he casually dropped the snowball, brushed his robe off, and stood straight.

"Professor, there is a perfectly reasonable and understandable reason for all of this."

She crossed her arms, eyebrow raised.

He nodded and gestured to a girl with bush brown hair. "It was Hermione's idea."

A much LONGER pause before the wrath of Mione suddenly loomed over the boy and snow began flying again.

Professor Sinistra considered just going back down. It would be easier. Maybe if.

A snowball smacked into her hat, knocking it off.

Again, the tower paused.

She casually withdrew her wand. "Well, maybe as an introduction we can do something a bit different."

Her wand barely moved and a large pile of snow began turning into spheres behind her.

Her eyes had a twinkle but her smirk was very subtle. "My name is Professor Sinistra, and I will tell your next of kin you died with honor."

Snow happened. In large amounts.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had never been in trouble WITH a professor before. He would have to remember this if he ever wrote a book. Maybe when Professor McGonagall wasn't about to blow a gasket.

Professor Flitwick seemed to be having trouble not laughing.

Minerva sighed. "Professor Sinistra, I appreciate that under the circumstances you may have lost your temper, and we all appreciate that you restricted the size of your snow-golems to under five feet tall." She tried to ignore Filius giving her a thumbs up. The dueling champion loved making minions. "I must say that the ice prisons may have been a bit much though."

Aurora gave a sheepish grin. It hadn't been so long ago that SHE had been in Hogwarts, and frankly the whole thing had been pretty stress releasing. "Well, some students kept digging out the others, and I was a bit out numbered..."

Filius chuckled. "Not after the army you made. WELL done."

Minerva rubbed her head. A potion would be nice. "Harry, just... why snow? It is going to get cold soon enough anyway. Last thing we need is MORE of it."

Oh Merlin, he had that look. "You mean... Sun Balls? I... BRILLIANT!"

"Just... go to your House. I will be taking 20 points for causing a snow situation."

He leaned forward. "Could we call it snowmageden?"

The tall witch just pointed to the door. Harry sighed with a grin and left.

Minerva turned to Aurora. "And... well, next time START with the Army. I prefer snow chickens myself, people really underestimate something tiny that clucks at you until it starts throwing snow-eggs..."

Filius had a glazed look. "Ah, those were the days... That boy is much like his father."

The Deputy Headmistress handed the other two some glasses with fire-whiskey in it. "If he starts doing group pranks, we are all in deep trouble. At this point I think he has friends in all the houses..."

The other two professors flushed a bit and drank a little faster than advisable. An all house marauders would be... troubling.

~~~Core Threads~~~

A distraught Hermione glomped Harry as he entered the common room. "Harry, are you in detention? Did they suspend you? Are they banishing you to Egypt? Did they eat your foot? Did..."

Holding her shoulders back he turned to Padma who was REALLY acting innocent. "Oh you wound her up a lot didn't you?"

She was trying to innocently whistle.

She should probably learn to whistle.

Terry grinned. "So what is the damage? Detention?"

Harry grinned right back. "Well, I lost twenty points, so I guess Ravenclaw only earned 80 points from me today."

Hermione swatted his shoulder. "You could have gotten in trouble, prat. Don't do that, you hear me?"

His grin earned him another swat before he raised his hands. "Look, sometimes emergency snowball fights have to happen. Plus, think of all the awesome snow spells we saw today!"

She paused with her hand raised, eyes going a bit blank. "You saw them... you can see magic... you can TEACH US THOSE!"

His grin was wide. "Yep."

Snow warfare was going to evolve in this school.

~~~Core Threads~~~

As Harry entered his Mind scape, he noticed Wisdom waiting and tapping a foot. "Yes? Did I forget something?"

She gave a nod. "You haven't been practicing the Rail Tube or Fire Lance attacks enough. You also should also prepare, since tomorrow is that greasy man's potion class."

He nodded absently, then laid down on the grass. With no one else around, he could relax in his mind again. Idly he looked over. The doors to his friends minds were still there of course, but they were faded and unactivated right now. He thought about how many people should gain access to this place... probably should wait a year. At least until everyone builds up their mental worlds and can help others.

He focused on his hand. The Rail Tube was basically the same trick used for the duck launcher and to let Hedwig out of his house. The thought here was he could make a series of tubes and then conjure ammunition. The process was in some of the more advanced books he had been reading over the last few days, and Harry felt it would accomplish most of the few offensive requirements he may need.

Magic did not like blocking physical objects. A strong wizard could block a machine gun maybe, but not forever. The magic required would be huge though, and the shooter would be fresh.

Harry wanted to be able to make Rail Tubes at will, anywhere his ropes were. They could move objects toward or away from him, they could launch spells or objects at high speed without using up magic.

A real game-breaker.

Right now it took several seconds, about forty, to make one tube. Harry wanted this down to less than a second for one, less than three seconds for four.

For hours he created them. Using different ropes, sometimes trying to build the tube out of threads (Barely made a tug), he kept practicing.

The burning in his limbs from magic saturation was a distant memory at this point. Magic had flooded his body for so long, he probably didn't have any normal cells left. Sometimes Harry even thought Magic had emotions, or opinions.

Right now, he felt it was laughing at him.

Create a tube, disperse it. Over and over. Left arm, Right, Left leg, right.

~~~Core Threads~~~

With a wave of his hand, three tubes appeared. It was a lot of progress, but he felt he could do more later.

Using both hands and a lot of focus, he began making a tube using a cable instead of a rope.

It felt heavy. Like someone was opening a door and snow was on the other side, like he was trying to withstand heavy pressure. As his experiment snapped into shape, a shock rippled the golden lake and scared the snails out of some training ducks.

With apologies to the local avians, he examined the new tube. It seemed grooved on both the inside of the tube and the surface. Tossing a cloud in...

WOW. It twisted the cloud apart, created a single thin rod of memories, and LAUNCHED it.

More experiments confirmed. It would launch a bus... after squeezing it down into a javelin first. And Harry was unsure at what astonishing speed those javelin's would escape, since he couldn't find the first one. Far, likely.

Seeing Wisdom look up from the book and tea she was enjoying, he sighed and began practicing the fire lances. Basic fire balls, advanced fire spears, and the lance, which looked like a laser.

He grinned. At least it was INTERESTING to be stuck doing this.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Now that he could hit SOMEWHAT close to targets far away with his laser of death, he sat in a chair and began reviewing some of the other spells. Especially the sort, pack, and the find spells.

Harry had examined some of the permanently enchanted objects, especially stuff that worked for Hermione's parents since they didn't provide excess magic like witches and wizards. Eventually it led to him examining her trunk (With her permission of course) since it used simpler magic than his own.

The broom work had helped him in this. A pattern both shared was a spiral near the center of the enchantments. It seemed to act like an antenna, attracting loose magic in the area and focusing it. He began casting the sorting charms on a set of copied memories while messing with the selector parts of the spell.

If possible, he wanted a permanent search charm, one that would basically grab things AS the book containing the topic arrived into circulation. However all the enchantment books he had seemed to make spells that combine all the parts into a single casting, rather than casting each part of high quality spell work and connecting them together.

Harry supposed his own gifts of seeing what needed to connect to where was one reason he could use the more advanced approach. Most other had to memorize every type of search charm or else use the 'Accio' summoning charm. But the summoning charm required you to already know what you are looking for... his new search spell would not need to know. It would bring you things ABOUT what you want to know.

His grin was probably infectious.

He sent Wisdom to search for delivery methods. Just carrying everything with his thread or ropes would work, but he wanted searches to be done all the time, especially when he was busy. Maybe a ball? Self bouncing, of course. Spell could fit inside... why a physical ball? Make it part of the spell.

Harry's hand idly waved. a dark green shell of threads appeared, with the search charm inside. He would have to find more elegant means of delivering spells and such later. Throwing random bouncing balls was good enough for an 11 year-old, but not likely for a master wizard.

For now, he began trying to simplify the gestures needed, and testing words for the new spell. Ideally he could set it up like a command, like "Search Fishstick" or something. He also wanted it to be able to search for people, places, situations, and other such by using some librarian spells to generate texts being said near the spell and then SEARCHING THOSE TEXTS in addition to other books.

If done well, he would have patrol bouncy balls, able to do reconnaissance and search libraries for books as he needed, quickly and easily for him and his friends.

Well, eventually. Right now it kept sorting everything as 'Memory' or 'Book', which was technically correct, but also annoying.

Harry sighed and messed with small glowing shapes and twists. He would likely stop using most of these spells after learning them all. Most of what he needed in every day life was covered by his threads, which felt much more... natural, than this odd sing and dance required for wand magic. Harry felt that a wizard with a few mastered spells could probably kick a lot of tail compared to someone who knew every spell but only used them adequately.

He paused as something in his spell started ticking and making a high pitch whine. Hurling it like a snowball, it DETONATED, getting a few claps from the local ducks off duty.

He slumped as Wisdom giggled behind him. "Well, that search didn't work. Unless I was looking for explosions."

From behind him Wrath stepped, handing him a customized memory of fine tea. "I am sure you will get it in no time, Master."

Wisdom looked back at the book when Harry tried to catch her giggling. Ah well.

He reviewed the memory of the exploding baseball thing. It could be useful sometime. Or at least tell him what not to do again.

Several explosions and one missing eyebrow later, and Harry no longer had to wonder what caused the explosion. The answer was 'Just about anything.'

The coiled spring not only absorbed local power, but it stored it. In one test he doubled the size of the spring, which multiplied the EXPLOSION by over 20 times.

Since then he had drastically decreased the spring size, which kept any problems down to a sad 'pumph' level instead of the earth shattering kaboom.

Harry had also learned why his searches seemed to stop at a high level. FIRST you had to search for things to search... then you had to search those things for things to search. Then if those things contain other things, THEY needed to be searched.

It was a form of recursion, it needed to re-search an object if that object contained others. For example, bookshelves should be searched for books, books should be searched for pages, pages should be searched for words.

He looped the magic into itself, along with a tiny counter. If it tried to search for longer than 8 objects deep, it would give up... that should keep it from searching forever if there is a book that has itself inside or something.

Harry had a working prototype, but the spoken version required two parts. The first half would set up the spell, create the sphere that would do the searching, and prime it with instructions on how to work. The second half just set the search terms.

That way you could cast the first part and enchant it into an object, and use the second half to actually search without complicated wand movements and stuff.

Exhausted from all this dream work, Harry absently took another sip of tea and accepted a book from Wisdom about American Goat Breeding. Sometimes it felt good to do research on silly and pointless things.

~~~Core Threads~~~

On the third floor of Hogwarts a man with a purple turban was being sneaky. Thankfully no one was around, because nothing was more suspicious than a grown man pretending to walk on tiptoes to escape tripwires down a dark hallway. He was also muttering an almost constant stream of quiet words, which if overheard could be summarized as "FINE, I am going to the scary corridor, you are such a pain in the neck."

Needless to say, that was paraphrased. Professor Quirrell did not have that kind of backbone, which honestly was the cause of a lot of his issues.

His current issue was opening a door that had a suspiciously unwatched and badly cast locking charm. Well, the door was fine really. The three headed Cerberus, on the other hand, was eager to meet his new possibly delicious friend.

As the garlic smelling man tried to catch his breath he heard someone coming and hid in the darkness...

Why was Dumbledore walking backward down the hall at this time of night? At least he was wearing a proper robe this time.

Both silent observers felt mixed things. On one hand, they thought the old man had lost it, was loopy, had no clue about anything.

But he kept showing up. Seemingly randomly. Doing things that made sense after someone thought about it. It was like accidentally painting a house, but somehow it seemed believable until that last brush stroke.

The teacher went back to his room. He had a dog to get around.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Severus Snape was going through some of the more advanced potion books. Potter would be shown up this time, he wouldn't have a chance to flaunt his privilege THIS time. Spoiled brat would learn to respect his betters.

Some of the questions even Severus had forgotten over the years. Some snot-nosed brat would be crying in minutes.

He cackled as he opened another book. This one wasn't even a potions book, but was a French Dictionary. After a pause, he shrugged. Why not? The boy was probably brain dead anyway. He would just claim it was an important French ingredient or something. Maybe take off MORE points for not knowing too.

Severus thought he had felt someone entering the forbidden corridor. He knew he was supposed to check it... well, his snakes should know better. If any other student passed on, he should probably get an award for raising the school intelligence level.

The greasy man continued reviewing random books, building questions and memorizing them while laughing at that damn Potter brat finally getting punished for getting in the Dark Lord's way and getting sweet Lily killed. That damn boy.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne has thrown the same pillow at Tracy over twelve times now.

"You STILL Like Pot-"

Thirteen times.


	33. Spell Crafting, Potions, and Tea

It was finally Friday, and Harry was moving in a bit of a daze. He had spent time the night before having an emergency planning session with Jim and Wrath, and they had a basic idea of how they hoped today's potion lesson would go.

Most important priority of course, was to reunite Delta Team. Honestly only Harry and Wisdom seemed worried about the situation, since Jim felt his operative would do well and Wrath... well he never really felt concern anyway.

If Snape didn't instigate a mind connection, Harry would have to do it himself. He had never tried connecting to someone without their knowledge and consent, and it felt wrong somehow. But either way, Delta Duck would be coming home.

Harry did not approve leaving friends behind.

At this point he was focusing on other projects to avoid obsessing about the rescue, if that was even possible. The potion suspension spell was his main focus. It had lots of little fiddly bits that he felt were... not needed. Sure, it mattered for a potion probably that individual molecules don't gain additional spin or speed, but a muffin?

If he was planning on using this as a food preservation spell, the heat/cooling aspect should stay, the time aspect was the most important part, but a lot of the motion stuff could be stripped off. Honestly, from what he could tell in the theory, the ability for the spell to preserve momentum of all parts of the liquid inside is what made this a Master level spell to begin with.

The motion section required analyzing the motion of the liquid, recording all flows, stopping all flows, storing data recorded ABOUT those flows into the spell itself, and finally including a self casting charm that would restart all flows within the potion when the spell was released.

The changes Harry was applying to the charm would make it dangerous to use in advanced potions, but simple to cast. It would work fine on basic potions that had no complex stages in the middle of brewing, it would work REALLY WELL on food in general.

As he fiddled with the wand movements, he found shortcuts and motions that would accomplish a similar result but was less precise. The food would be able to warm or cool by a half of a degree, instead of taking no changes. It would age away EVENTUALLY, in a few thousand years, instead of constantly adjusting itself to prevent it. It would require a wand motion now around what you wished to preserve, since it no longer had to recognize a cauldron and determine the material, heat, hot and cold spots, etc.

As far as Harry could tell, he may even be able to teach this one silently to others, although he did manage to fit the word "Stasis" to it after some experiments. The word had to be said half way through the fourth wand motion, but it worked and could be easy to remember, and with enough practice even that shouldn't be necessary.

Harry leaned against the chair in the Merp room and tried to relax his wand arm. Modifying spells was honestly far more challenging than he had expected, and required a lot of experimentation. He had thought he could try combining the search spells he knew by now, but had spent most of his night working on the Stasis charm instead.

His eyes glared at the dominoes. He had stored many non-magical games and stuff in his hand before coming to school, but hadn't expected some of them to be useful in practicing magic. Casting the Stasis charm on the falling blocks was the first real confirmation that the spell worked AND that it affected time in an area.

Waving a hand to reset the dominoes, Harry tipped the first one and then drew a small circle around the blocks with his wand, powering the younger core. As he watched, the blocks fell slower... slower... and stop. The original charm was instant, but that took more power and much more complicated wand movements, so Harry stripped that out. After all, a muffin or cookie could handle waiting a few seconds to be preserved, so why make things harder?

He reached out a hand and tried poking the falling domino... and all the other blocks shifted too. His eyebrows shot up.

Apparently the Stasis spell bound everything that was frozen together. That was VERY nice, as sandwiches and such wouldn't need to be wrapped... oh, well... maybe to keep them clean.

He reviewed the latest casting, and realized that a couple of the blocks had not been inside his wand movement. The encircling must automatically enrapture what he THOUGHT of as the targets, not simply what was in the middle of the circle.

He absently threw a Finite at the charm. Finite was one of the Game Breaker spells the group had found, it looked like a small ball of spikes that basically exploded magically on a target, messing up most spells and allowing them to collapse. So far only Harry was able to do it silently, wandless, and... well, yeah.

Hermione had been annoyed at that.

Harry pushed the thoughts away and focused on the now re-ordered, standing black blocks. Repeating the motions needed, he made a tiny circle while focusing on all the blocks instead of creating a large loop around them by hand. Gently he pushed a domino...

He grinned as the group moved. Apparently the circle gesture would allow targeting groups rather easily. Or was it more generic than that? Resetting the experiment, he mentally targeted only every second block, ignoring half of them.

As he lifted a block (Which lifted quite a few others, leaving half on the table), he felt a mental knock.

'Sir, Miss Hedwig has a delivery for you that she would like to deliver.'

Harry put the blocks down, confused. 'Wrath, when did you learn to communicate with her?'

'I can not sir, but you have a connection with her mentally after your bonding. Jim translated for me, and I passed it on.'

He shook his head, but began heading toward a corridor with a window. 'Well, thank you for the heads up. Thank Jim for me as well.'

'Of course, Master. Wisdom also wishes to report that Stasis has been recorded and formatted for print, if you wish to activate the copy spell.'

Harry gave a small grin. 'I suppose that would be for the best, since everyone will want to play with it after class.'

His mental conversation paused as he reached a window. Turning smoothly, his arm was steady as Hedwig landed with grace and slapped the back of his head with a wing.

He laughed. "Sorry Hedwig, I lost track of... OW! Come on girl, I was just doing a tiny bit of research, I was going to... SORRY, I will pay you with bacon if you would just stop abusing my head!"

Half way through another head swat, Hedwig paused. Her human may work too hard, but bacon? Bacon. She stood straight with dignity and stretched her leg out so her human could take the message.

He gently untied the note with his left hand. "Thanks girl, I know I was wrapped up in stuff. Forgive a foolish boy?"

Apparently an Owl can sigh. Hedwig gave a tender nibble on his ear as he read the note. "Oh, it is from the large fellow, Hagrid. He is inviting us to tea." He tapped the note on his chin. "I must admit, pumpkin juice gets old pretty quickly. I can't really feel English without a proper cup."

With a slight movement a pen moved into his hand and he scribbled an acceptance note, mentioning that he may bring a friend or two over. Harry tied the note with a green thread to Hedwig's leg. "Now girl, be careful out there alright? I know you are the most beautiful and strongest owl ever, but be safe."

Her snort caught Harry off guard before she launched back into the air through the window. He grinned toward his avian friend who seemed to be heading down to a strange wooden hut near the forest edge. At least it wasn't a long trip to visit the giant of a man.

~~~Core Threads~~~

First impressions of the dungeons were... lacking.

Apparently someone had felt that a clean working environment was for weaklings. Strange stains covered the floor of the classroom, the tables had pits from cauldron failures and potion mishaps, the windows let in a strange yellow tinted light through the grungy glass.

The room didn't have proper ventilation, and the air was chilly and smelled of strange things, moldy and even slightly burnt. The walls didn't feel right, like they were not quite straight, and there was not enough light to see clearly.

To add to such issues, the Ravenclaws were sharing this lesson with Slytherins, and there was a cloud of smugness that oozed from their side of the pit.

Clearly they knew something the Claws didn't.

At the desk in the shadows of the classroom was a bubbling cauldron, a chalkboard with fairly small text on it, and a greasy looking shadow that was reviewing a few sheets of parchment with a evil looking sneer. A soft bell clanked, and the man stood to an impressive height as the door slammed close, almost catching a Ravenclaw who had just entered.

"I know my time will be wasted trying to harvest brilliance from such... lacking sources. But as softer hearts wish that all of you could pretend to become something great, I will just have to take your money as you prove them wrong."

Snape waved a wand, a class list floating in front of him. "I will now see how many of you managed to walk in a straight line long enough to reach my class. If your name is too hard to remember, just grunt when I am forced to look at you."

Soft snickering came from the snake side of the room, mostly from Draco's friends. He seemed to have gained a lot of self confidence in this class, like it was a safe place he could hide in.

Eventually of course, he reached Harry's name on the list.

"Potter... oh yes. Hopefully you will only be half the failure your father was."

Harry quickly clamped down on his emotions. Even so, his vision dimmed slightly, there was a soft sound in the air, and a feeling of coolness spread. He returned the sneer on Snape's face with an impassive nod.

Eventually the old bastard made it through his list, passing over the snakes and making random insults as he covered the claws. He stood at his desk, vaguely waving his wand to send it back somewhere.

"You are here to learn how to craft a series of potions. If you have any skill, you may one day learn how to truly experience the joys of exploring such a fine art as this. The world is your puppet, and with your hands you will brew life blood to save the dying, craft potions that can change fate and tempt luck, that will change life as you know it." His clawed fingers stirred an imaginary cauldron. "It requires exact control of both mind and body to construct the beauties that may one day save a loved one or curse an enemy. This is magic in the most pure form, one that you can save and buy and sell. Even death can be held back with the right potion."

His focus landed on a boy with green eyes. "Potter! Name a potion that uses powdered root of asphodel!"

Harry's eyes hardened. After a quick thought from Wisdom, this would be simple. "One such would be the Drought of Living Death, sir."

Snape almost stumbled. That was a sixth year potion. Damn brat. "Why would you add Octopus Powder to a Calming Draught?"

"Octopus powder increases the strength of a potion, sir."

His sneer increased. "Then why SHOULDN'T you add it?"

"Strongly affects the flavor, sir. Can cause vomiting."

Snape's eyes were narrowed. Octopus Powder shouldn't have even been on the reading list, since so few potions bother with it anymore. "Name a tree oil that is used in a potion that treats ringworm of the feet only."

Harry's eyes dimmed for a moment. Before Snape could regain his sneer, he smiled. "Neem oil, from the Neem Tree. I believe it is one of the ingredients of Fergus Fungal Budge, listed in the paper... Sir."

Snape felt close to snapping. "No one cares what you believe, Potter. One point taken from Ravenclaw. Next time stay on topic." He leaned forward. This dunderhead was cheating somehow, and Severus Snape was going to fall for nothing. "Name the ingredient that contains an explosive fluid and is a Class-B Tradeable Material."

The boy paused. "I believe it is Erumpent Tail?"

Snape almost grinned. "Of course not. It is an Erumpent Horn, of course." His pleasure over beating the brat was short lived though. How had he cheated so badly? "Clearly, being a celebrity is not everything. Ravenclaw loses two more points. You should have read your materials, Mr. Potter."

Harry was being consoled mentally by Wisdom as she tried to keep him calm. He could feel Padma secretly squeezing his knee, trying to give him support without showing weakness to the bully, while Hermione was slowly turning red in anger for her friend.

Wrath was just waiting.

Snape began a long rant about how important it was for people to study even if everything in the world was being given to you, how not even money could help a dunderhead, and some other nonsense. He divided up the class, and Harry and Padma almost silently began preparing the potion required on the board.

Harry was in autopilot. His hands moved to the in depth instructions from his mental library, even going so far as to grab Padma's hand when she almost added the crushed snake fangs too soon. All his feelings were numb as he tried not to kill this grease stain of a man.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Severus Snape snarled over that damn Brat's potion. He had done everything he could, but somehow the boy must have cheated. Maybe stolen Draco's work? Draco normally did much better than he had today, it must have been Harry's fault somehow.

The Brat's potion was bloody near perfect... no, better than that. It seemed to almost glow with power, somehow.

With a snarl he waved his wand, vanishing the contents of the potion. "Next time, follow instructions Mr. Potter, Mrs. Patil. We must not allow incompetence to endanger others who are TRYING to learn. Zero points to both of you on this assignment."

THERE, the boy finally looked him straight in the eye. Nearly cackling, Snape threw a silent Legilimency probe. NOW he would get answers!

Darkness. Cold. Bubbles? No, darkness. Claws on his neck, holding him. So cold. His mind felt something twist, a sting.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Wrath held the vaguely human shaped cloud in one hand.

It had taken a lot of patience for his Master to allow this Snape person to attack. Several times, even Wrath had felt his claw like fingers wishing to dig into the man.

His other hand gently pressed into the cloud, questing... there.

He stared at it. "Master, we have retrieved the lost member of Delta team. Should I release the greasy one?"

The black void echoed slightly. "Wrath, he insulted Padma, her work."

His fingers turning more skeletal, Wrath seemed to gain height and become more thin. His eyes, already green embers, seemed to cool into tiny green chips of ice. "Unfortunately Master, Mr. Snape was slightly injured due to falling down."

The echo returned. "It is indeed unfortunate, Wrath. Especially that headache he got."

Wrath extended a clawed finger swirling with blackness. "Indeed Master. Quite sad."

He got to work.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione was furious.

Padma was doing her best to explain that hurting teachers could be quite bad for your career.

Harry was in a happy mood, which somehow just made her feel MORE angry. "HOW can you be so happy Harry! That man was AWFUL! It was bad enough with him insulting you, and asking stuff WAY beyond first year texts, but YOU DID THAT POTION RIGHT! It was better than MINE, it was better than every one I saw and you got NOTHING!"

He gave a grin. "Well, it's hard to feel down when a pretty friend is angry on your behalf." His grin got bigger seeing her sputter. "Besides, this just means we will have to learn outside of class for this one too."

Padma hugged Hermione before looking at Harry. "So... what are you going to do about Snape?"

Harry shrugged. "I will pass it on to Professor McGonagall. I can show her the memory and she will probably take care of it." He snapped his fingers and turned to Hermione. "Oh, and I fiddled with that potion spell thing we found. Changed it a bit, and I think you guys can cast my version."

Hermione's brain paused, rerouted, and now she was bouncing with happiness. "Really? I saw it earlier, and it was over 100 wand movements alone!"

Harry grinned. "That is the compressed spell." Seeing her look he waved a hand. "Well, it was a book aimed at potion Masters, after all. The full, uncompressed spell had over fifty words and about 350 wand motions. After you finish designing the spell, you see how the parts over-lap each other and can combine the wand motions down."

He was enjoying the shock on their faces. "Yeah, and the words don't matter so much either, as long as they are the right number of beats said at the right time." He turned and continued toward the main entrance. "Hey, if we come up with a new spell, can we claim it or something? Are there royalties or stuff?"

Hermione had a glazed look as she thought about compressed and uncompressed spells. "We should probably ask Professor Flitwick, he would know. Especially since he has a Charms Mastery. Can you teach us this one? Or is it like some of your other, 'Only Harry' stuff?"

Harry shrugged. "I think I can teach it, but it should be fun finding out. Where is Terry?"

Padma grinned. "Apparently he and Hannah decided to hang out with Susan and Neville. Seemed in a hurry too."

Hermione was still stuck on the idea of a new spell, but tried to focus. "So where are we heading to, Harry?"

He waved toward a hut. "You probably won't believe me, but I am headed to Hagrid's hut to find me some Tea."

Padma paused. "Will he mind if we tag along?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think he would. He seems like a nice fellow, really."

~~~Core Threads~~~

As it was nearing Tea time, the three students wandered over the castle grounds toward the wooden hut. Built out of trees instead of planks, roughly torn and ripped into the shape of a rough stone, the house felt slightly squished but inviting. Warm light could be seen in the windows, and soft smoke rose from the chimney.

As they neared it they could see a lethal looking crossbow, the size of a child really, resting next to the door... along with a pink umbrella. A really small one. Maybe Hagrid only wanted a dry face.

As Harry knocked on the wooden door he could hear nails scratching on the floor and Hagrid's deep voice thumping from inside. "Get back you ole furball, come on Fang. Back! Don't make me put you in time out young pup!"

There was a bark that actually shook the ground under Harry's feet.

The door, huge as it was, cracked open and they could see part of Hagrid's face as he pushed the creature back from the door. "Just a moment, ye youngins." Turning back, they could see that he held the collar of a monstrous dog, mouth full of teeth... and a huge tongue, desperate to lick people.

At the moment, Harry wasn't sure if it was safer to be liked or hated by 'Fang'. The thing seemed MADE of energy.

"Hagrid, is this a bad time? My friends and I can come back later if you need..."

The door was now open, although Hagrid had a tight hold on Fang's collar. "No worries, Harry. Everyone inside, the tea is bout to be ready, I know it."

The house had... scale. It looked small and cramped, until they walked in... and they realized that Hagrid was BIG. The chairs were big, the table was huge, and all three of them could have sat in one chair with no problem. Maybe some blushing, but no problem.

The large man bustled around, passing cups of some strange tea to Harry and Hermione, while Padma placed hers on the table and tried to damage something Hagrid called a 'Rock Cake'. She quietly argued that if she couldn't crack it, then eating it would probably leave everyone toothless.

Harry grinned, and picked one up while Hagrid wasn't watching. Filling it with a few threads, Harry removed half of the 'cake' and left air, converting one cake into two soft and squishy... eww. Well, apparently taste was an issue, not just hardness.

They talked for a while. Hagrid seemed very friendly and open... almost too open, really. Harry had asked about an article on Hagrid's table and somehow it ended up with Hagrid accidentally confessing to moving some super secret something from Gringotts (Which was actually broken into, of all things) to Hogwarts. Probably had to do with that one corridor of death, really.

He had also confessed to accidentally using the same women's restroom three times in one day and to hiding his broken wand inside of an umbrella (But I won't say which one, or whether or not it's pink!), and many other things...

So not really the guy who should keep secrets, really.

Still the tea was nice, and the cakes were nice table decorations. It was a nice break, really.


	34. End of a Busy Friday

The room was dim, only the fire under a cauldron letting Severus see the glass holding his firewhiskey. He was collapsed in a deep and soft chair, holding his glass against his forehead. Everything at the end of class was a blur now.

Snape remembered putting that dunderhead in his place. How dare he cheat... but those eyes looked at him. After that...

It had taken several minutes for Severus to realize the room was empty. He must have dismissed class, right?

Snape finished another glass and gently raised the glass bottle, blue tinted and reinforced to handle the magical drink. He was not sure how much he had finished so far, but this USED to be a new bottle. More dark happiness filled his glass as he sat back.

He had taken two pain potions already. Any more could cause issues, severe ones... but his head felt so raw. His mind felt torn. It reminded him of darker times, of older times. What had happened?

Probably Potter in some way. That spawn of evil was likely behind it. And behind his missing drink. It had been full just a... how long ago? Too soon gone, anyway. Damn Potter.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was feeling awkward. Talking to teachers about class was easy, but this was one of his projects. "Hermione, we can do this later. I am sure Professor Flitwick is busy today..."

Padma was reading something about skin blemishes, but she still took time to give him a sympathetic pat on the arm. "Harry, she has that 'why wait' look. The study and homework one."

Hermione nodded. "If you can really mess with spells that quickly, and make the new spell teachable... we HAVE to show him!" Her eyes had a quiet glow, and she seemed overly energetic.

Harry gave a slight sigh. He hadn't really bothered being discreet, but he hadn't realized how EASY it was to freak wizards and witches out. Then again, three of his classes so far seemed to be taught by incompetent people... maybe being normal made you a genius here? Hermione seemed pretty normal. Then again, there were wizards like Malfoy who seemed unable to take subtle hints.

At this point the Charms class let out, Slytherins and Hufflepuffs carefully heading in different directions. As they cleared Harry was pulled in by Hermione, Padma wandering in behind while reading her book. "Professor Flitwick! We have a question about new spells and charms and such."

The smaller teacher was making absent wand movements, the classroom being cleaned and organizing itself as he absently moved. "Of course Ms. Granger. What can I do for you?"

She smiled. "If we make a new charm, what do we do next? Who do we tell, how do we share it?"

Filius finished organizing the classroom. "It is slightly different based on if the charm is offensive or defensive in nature, if it is high or low level magic requirement, and how bad accidents can be. For example, a color changing spell would be considered a basic spell, since it is considered neither offensive nor defensive and it takes very little power to use. There are almost no side effects as well." He sat in a chair near the children. "We go into much more detail about spell creation in seventh year classes, many students make some variation of existing spells as extra credit on their Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests."

Harry gave a frown. "Well, how do you find out what can go wrong? My charm didn't seem to have any major side effects."

Flitwick looked on in surprise. "Mr. Potter, you created a charm?"

He nodded and held out two books. "We were researching food preservation charms and Hannah remembered this potion suspension spell, 'Potionem Suspensionis'. None of us could cast it though, because of how complicated it was." Harry handed over some paper with pen notes on it. "So I stripped out a lot of the complicated parts and made it less accurate. After compressing the movements, it is much easier to cast and it suspends time for a target... or at least really really slows time down."

Goblin-like fingers shook slightly as they took the crudely written notes and began reviewing them. "In your opinion, Mr. Potter, how close are you from making a working prototype of this spell?"

Green eyes looked confused. "All my prototypes worked, Professor. Those are the notes for the final version, the one I worked hardest on. It activates slower, it only lasts for a few thousand years instead of forever, and it can't remember how fluid is being stirred... but it does keep temperatures unchanging, prevents crushing, and essentially stops time for a target." He pulled out a sandwich and tapped it against a table. "See? It's like rock. Finite works to undo it pretty easily."

"Fifty points, Mr. Potter. This is work beyond many charm masters... you took a completed Potion Master charm and modified it for food storage of all things." Flitwick shook his head. "I assure you, if you ever need a career, spell design should be at the top of your list now. Let's head into my office and I can help you submit this to the Ministry. If it gets accepted then any book that references your charm will pay you a royalty fee."

Hermione was absorbing this information like a sponge. "Have you done this process before?"

Flitwick gave a grin. "Done this before? I was a professional duelist. Making new spells was almost required to surprise your opponent." He read through the notes and gave a small frown. "The original charm was very complex. How many wand motions is your version?"

Harry shrugged. "Four."

Filius blinked then grin. "Oh yes, I think this will show up in SEVERAL books... and not just because of your Boy-Who-lived fame." He began pulling papers from drawers. "It handles heat, cold... it is simple to cast, even easier than the food warming spell my father taught me. Yes, I can see this taking off easily, especially for restaurants and shops that sell fragile goods."

Seeing Harry's confusion, he chuckled. "It basically acts like you turned objects to stone, without actually changing the composition of the object. It might even be useful in the medical field, freezing a limb until it can be treated or what have you."

Padma grinned. "It could make clothing into armor maybe."

Harry frowned. "No, it wouldn't bend right... not unless you cast it several times in small chunks. Still, it could make a cool shield out of anything, dirt, or what not."

Flitwick finished filling out some forms and passed them over. "This is something similar to a patent, if you know of the muggle methods of protecting this sort of thing. What it says is anyone can use your spell, but if they wish to print it in books then they must contact you for your permission first. It will also prevent others from claiming they invented your charm first and creating a legal case against you."

He grinned. "Now that all the boring legal stuff is out of the way... Care to teach an old teacher new tricks?"

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor McGonagall sat between stacks of paper, filling out documentation and forms that had been placed upon the school over the years. Much of it was meaningless... until not done. At which point everything began collapsing, there was rioting in the streets, and clowns came out of the basement. Or at least, that was what Minerva thought.

Albus was staying in his office, thankfully. As much as she loved the old man, he was much less stable for some reason this year. Right now he was arguing with his Lemon Drop collection. Something about "It's too dangerous, think of the lemons" or some such.

Minerva picked up a new form recently passed in. A new charm? Ah, Filius. Well, signed and into the out bound folder. Next... Oh, Madam Hooch didn't need new brooms? Well, this cancellation would allow the School to get those Mandrake saplings Professor Sprout had been begging for last meeting. There was some more complaints about Professor Snape... sigh. She had tried to get that man out several times now, but Albus would wander in at some point, say 'He has my complete confidence' and refuse to sign the dismissal slip.

She had even tried when he had been on vacation, just for him to appear with that phoenix wearing... SOME strange combination of equipment he called "SCUBA gear". It was just frustrating.

She took a break, leaning back in her chair. Could the Deputy Headmaster get a Deputy? Or maybe find a paperwork spell. She would make millions of Galleons in an hour no doubt, and be given a world wide holiday.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Susan was having a rough time writing a letter. It had only been a few days, barely a week, and... well, somehow everything seemed to be complicated now.

Let's see... Dear Auntie... uh. Friends? Sure, put them down. Maybe they could invite Neville over during Christmas break... would that be too soon? She could invite the others, definitely. Mention the group, sure... the core thing? Maybe that would be easier in person. Snowball fight, BIG yes. In fact, more stories about the snow stuff. Neville could really throw a snowball, when he stopped being so shy.

She liked his shyness a bit. Maybe.

The studying was amazing. Her mental world made reading more fun, since she didn't forget as easily as she used to. Maybe she should start reading more about plants? No reason. None at all.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry faded into his mental world. That had been a LONG day, really. Maybe it just felt longer because he had to put up with that greasy bastard. At least the other teachers were terrible for obvious reasons, like death or speech and writing issues.

Snape was maliciously incompetent. Such a strange combination.

"Quack."

Harry turned to his lead duck. "Jim, good to see you too. Has our retrieved man... uh, duck been debriefed?"

"Quack." Jim led him over to Snail Q. Harry subconsciously shrank as he followed his yellow friend through the doors, heading to a far corner. As he followed through another doorway, he paused. The Delta Team member was quite fashionable.

Tight black and white striped shirt, black pants, a black mask. There was a brown bag with a golden dollar bill on it slung over his right wing.

"Jim, he is wearing a... He looks like..." He rubbed his forehead. "He stole stuff while he was over there, didn't he?"

"Quack."

Harry sighed. With a flick of his hand, a rope snagged the sack and pulled it over. "Well, Let's see what we got then."

As he opened the sack, he noticed the high number of golden clouds. He looked up at the Delta member. "Did you take his PRECIOUS memories?"

"Quack."

Well, copying is not as horrible as STEALING all the memories someone had of happiness. Still, this was... private stuff here. Harry firmly moved all the golden memories into a created golden bag. He would try to avoid those. That old grease stain may dig around children minds, but Harry was the bigger man. Well, figuratively anyway.

There were some really interesting ones near the bottom here... Apparently Professor Snape knew some languages, even a few esoteric ones that were really only used for spells and certain rituals. Harry absently sent those to be added to his language center. Wisdom could handle those. Here were some potion making reflexes, things like checking the heat automatically at the right time, cutting to exact widths, and so forth. These would be very helpful. A few fragments here and there, not entirely useful stuff other than this.

Still, having a potion master's reflexes would make preparation much easier for class, and Harry loved learning languages. Even the duplicate ones like French would improve his diction and reduce his accent now that he had more memories of it to reference.

Harry grinned. He should probably feel more guilty about this, but that bastard had insulted... pretty much everyone Harry cared about, really. Except for his mom. Still, hurting a teacher would cut into his learning time.

Well, hurting him more. That headache would get stronger each time Snape sneered.

Harry sighed and relaxed on the grass. Something had felt off today. What was it... oh. There was something hidden in this school on the Third Corridor. Something that someone had broken into Gringotts to try and get. That meant they were capable, slightly crazy (Or VERY crazy), and that they would likely head to HERE, since Gringotts had Dragons and stuff and Hogwarts didn't... or did it? Probably not.

A knock echoed through the bubble. What the... Oh. Padma was knocking on her door... had he left her connected?

Harry moved over and opened the door. Padma was grinning and had apparently knocked with her left foot. "Harry, I wanted to stop by. I brought kittens!"

Indeed. Her arms were full of them. He laughed as he moved out of the way. "I had no clue you could start the connection. Do you want me to take over the power though?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it really REALLY made me tired when I tried to reach out here. Probably because of how far apart we are."

Harry smiled and cocked his head. "Want me to invite the others?"

Padma shook her head. "Hermione would make us do useful stuff, like studying and learning and stuff. I mean look, KITTENS!"

Harry grinned. "Well, everyone needs a night of kittens ONCE in a while, right?"

She nodded. "For me, it's every Friday night."

He blinked. "But this is really the first Friday since you made your mental world."

She waved a hand, which happened to only have one kitten. "It is a recent tradition."

Sadly Harry never got back to work that night. But on the plus side, kittens.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Quirrell sighed. His body was degrading faster than he had hoped, at this rate he would need to heal his body in someway or the Dark Lord would lose his vessel. Oh, and he would die.

He vaguely remembered not having a soul in the back of his head. It seemed like... forever ago. He couldn't even remember if he had volunteered for this or not, way back then. All he could remember right now was... uh. Something. Oh, repairing his body. He had a lot of dead tissue now. The turban actually had some garlic, to hopefully cover some of the smell.

He needed to have more time. The philosopher stone was so close to being in his hands. Then he would... something. Stone? The teachers needed to be busy. He already had one Troll down there, probably. Well, he had provided it to Dumbledore, who may or may not have used it. That man was... Stone? Yes, the stone. Another troll.

He would get another Troll. That would cause confusion. Then Stone. Stone is good. It would take time to find another one, the last one had taken a month. Probably wouldn't be ready until Halloween. Then he (Stone?) Then he could get the Stone.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Albus Dumbledore was trying to convince a Phoenix to have a snowball fight.

It was going badly.


	35. Happy Halloween

The Merp room was normally full of students. Harry wasn't sure how he kept inviting people, but now there always seemed to be SOMEONE in there. At the moment it was Harry, Hermione, and Daphne. Tracy had started hanging out with Hannah, and they had said something about trying to create new makeup ideas for Harry to turn into spells.

Harry had expected the Slytherins to complain about seeing snakes hanging around with the Boy-Who-Lived, but it went surprisingly smoothly.

Apparently some stories about Harry had started to spread in the Slytherin common room. Draco acted terrified in his presence and Professor Snape couldn't look at the boy without cringing in pain. Apparently when Severus looked at Harry sneers were automatic, so his headache was... well, pretty epic.

On the plus side, he left Harry alone, since detention (Or even conversation) gave him a migraine.

So everyone who had a problem with Harry was following their lead and trying to ignore Harry. Which turned out to be pretty hard, as the boy seemed to keep doing impossible things by accident.

At the moment, Harry was trying to do the impossible by ignoring how excited everyone was about the Halloween feast tonight.

Hermione was going over some books on advanced copy charms, trying to add more details to her project of automatically memorizing novels and tombs. Daphne actually looked adorable, wrapped around a thick law book on a soft couch. Harry jerked his eyes back to his book when she looked up. He was having a harder time having normal conversations with her since they started hanging out so often, and frankly it made him feel... strange. Nice though.

He absently twirled his wand, deciding to ignore his current book about magical theory. It was really not satisfying, as he knew that normal witches and wizards could follow this book and actually improve in their spell work... but he kept getting confused. It seemed like the author was wrong on a lot of things, but was giving good advice ANYWAY.

It was like convincing a man dying of thirst to drink water... because it would balance the earth and increase mango production. It worked, but it was not exactly on the mark.

It had gotten so annoying that he had started making his own journal describing what he could SEE of magic, how it worked, how it felt, how it tasted. Oh, that had been odd, but he did learn that you had to break the thread off before putting it in your mouth. Felt like licking a battery if you didn't.

His magic tasted like lime. He had not built up enough courage to ask anyone to taste theirs.

Harry watched his wand twist, turn and flip. He was partially doing finger exercises, partially just moving it with threads. His magic HAD been developing from all the strange spells he used now, his threads were as strong as his ropes USED to be, and using ropes felt like overkill really.

Daphne looked up again. Harry blushing was a highlight of her reading afternoons, although he seemed overly distracted today. Well, he never did push his Boy-Who-Lived persona, maybe all the extra attention made him feel self-conscious?

She watched as he began twirling his strange wand, tip glowing green as it flipped through his fingers... floating? It was twirling... how did he do that? There was a green band of light left from the tip as he somehow began to increase the speed. The ribbon was slowly stretching as he twirled faster... faster...

She couldn't see it now. His hand had a green band around it and there was a high pitch whistling sound. "H... Harry?"

His hand whipped out and snagged the wand. "Yes, Daph?"

Wow those green eyes. "How did you do... Harry, are you feeling all right?"

He started to nod... and sigh. "Sorry, Daph, Mione. Today is a rough one for me." He waved a hand, and all his books began vanishing while the library books began stacking and ordering themselves. Hermione didn't even blink, used to seeing him do this in private, although Daphne's mouth was hanging open. Thankfully Harry didn't seem to notice.

Harry leaned back in the chair. "I always try to stay quiet during this holiday, back when I was really young. When I got older, I actually went out trick-or-treating..." Seeing confusion on Daphne's face, he held his hands apart. "Kids dress up and ask for candy. It is fun, really." He sighed. "Don't know if I can do that again, now that I know my family died today. It somehow makes it all feel... more real."

Daphne felt something cold settle in her stomach. She knew, everyone knew, that Harry had survived the killing curse... but she had never thought that much about the two people before him who didn't. Everyone was so happy about his survival that... he was alone. She remembered when her father almost died from a poison attempt, and the fear that she and Astoria had as they waited for news.

The thought of being alone had never really entered her mind.

At some point she realized she was looking into Harry's eyes, and that he had understanding there looking back. She failed hiding her blush and turned back to her legal book, some section about requirements of fire protection when within three districts of certain potion shops.

Hermione gave his arm a squeeze, and went back to her book too. She had already read it of course, but she knew Harry pretty well by now. He needed someone to be there, just not fussing over him. Even if she wanted to. Sometimes his eyes got a look that made her just want to hug him and tell him that everything was going to get better somehow.

It was easier to handle with other friends like this. She was grateful Daphne had offered to hang out with them.

They sat quietly, knowing that Dinner would be starting soon. Harry absently waved a hand, a bowl moving from his hand storage, with Stasis locked cut fruit inside. Daphne took a strawberry without looking up too much from her book, as it was getting into some interesting rent by-laws she had missed last time.

As Harry started to eat some melon, he paused.

'Quack!'

For a moment, his body locked up. This... This was BAD. "Hermione, Daphne, we have a problem. Four LARGE creatures are being led through the main entrance." Even as he talked he was standing, pulling Hermione toward Daphne and the door. As they all stood quickly Harry gave them hard looks.

Daphne could FEEL the air somehow going colder. His eyes were glowing harsh green. "You two need to tell McGonagall and Flitwick. I need you to move quickly, because I may not be able to slow them long before they reach children."

Hermione got a stricken look. "Harry, I can't let you..." The look turned on her made her pause before she nodded. "I will get McGonagall."

Harry nodded, and touched her forehead. Her eyes began to glow brown slightly. "Follow that path and you will reach her quickly. When you need to find me, tap your forehead and I will reverse the directions back to me."

He turned to Daphne. "I need you to go to the Great Hall and keep everyone in. No one but teachers may leave, understood?"

She nodded. He reached forward and tapped her face... and suddenly there was a floating green arrow, pointing out the door. She KNEW the path, every edge, ever corner, every secret passage that would make slightly faster, and she could FEEL Harry's urgency.

"Are we understood?" Harry saw both nod, and he grit his teeth. "Then time to go."

He blurred away, like smoke on a windy day.

Hermione pushed Daphne. "GO, we have little time if we want them to help Harry."

Both girls began to run.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry grabbed his thread to the main entrance, and thickened it. As confirmed with both girls that they had the plan, he PULLED.

He REALLY should have practiced this before. It felt like his body was twisting, his arms broken, his legs torn and shredded, blood boiling, his heart didn't even TRY to beat. Every cell of his body was angry with him...

He appeared in the hall. Limbs? Yes, he was here. So was a smell...

Without thought he took a giant step backwards as a WALL moved in front of his eyes... no, it was a slab of wood being wielded by some sort of... ah. Troll.

Three were watching the fourth, who was confused that I was not an inch tall at the moment. From what Harry could tell, this large one was the leader, even had some skulls dangling from a rag worn around his waist. The other three each had club like objects, but thankfully they all seemed confused that Harry was not flat.

'Wrath, get ready.'

Harry threw both hands at the leader. CABLES of green exploded from his body, cords and ropes following, twisting into the monster. His skin felt strange, like an oily surface, but he could still get SOME leverage as he began twisting and wrapping the beast. Harry could hear the strange language they grunted as the leader tried to move.

Oh Merlin, he just told the others to help him out.

Before Harry could move he felt something smash into his side like a TRUCK. His body went horizontal till he smashed into the wooden door of the school, and he heard several things crack. His left leg had broken in two places, his ribs broken in three, his left arm was... oh. It was gone. It had torn off. That was REALLY bad.

'Wrath... we can not capture. End them.'

'Yes Master.'

Grungs, Leader of Troll, Eater of men, was confused. He was used to this.

Confused was how trolls existed. Everything confused them. They were confused about small man-food. So he smashed it. New small man-food appeared next to old man-food. He couldn't smash at all! He ordered non-food to smash it. Squelch, Grungs favorite non-food, had smashed man-food to side.

Grungs liked food flat. This is why Grungs did not like to delegate.

As he reached down to pick up a bloody arm, he heard something whistle.

Squelch fell to the ground. There was a hole in him. He was bleeding.

Grungs turned.

The door was dark. The whole side of the room seemed to be dripping in shadow. Rising proudly from the depths was a skeletal man, eyes glowing a fierce green, with one nothing but an ember. His right arm was pointed at what used to be Squelch, with small spheres of stone rotating around it.

As Grungs watched, those eyes turned to Gnawsh... three stones vanished, and Gnawsh's head vanished. There was... something was going on.

Grungs ROARED and began lumbering toward the tiny man-food. He was ANGRY, and here was something to smash.

Harry's eyes turned to the leader Troll. Wrath waited.

When the creature was a step away, Harry created ropes of magic, thick ones, rotating in multiple directions and speeds.

Trolls were magic resistant. Even fire resistant.

This one BURNED. His scream echoed in the school, setting off screams of children elsewhere.

Harry's eyes hardened. This was going to attract innocents if he didn't hurry. There was one left, and he seemed... well, terrified, really. As he prepared to slaughter it... no.

Wrath withdrew. Harry took steps, slowly dragging his broken body toward the last Troll. With no hand movements, the creatures weapon was dissolved. As the boy drew closer, the huge muscular creature got on its hands and knees, curling into a ball, and started to cry.

He couldn't do it. The threat was gone. This creature just had to be moved away.

Reaching deep inside, Harry pulled the purest link of power he could, and linked his brain to the creature.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Inside of Goran he was crying. His friends had died, he was alone, and something was coming for him. He was supposed to be eating man-food, not alone.

As he laid upon the black misted ground, Harry stood behind him. Well, he had done this before, right?

Carefully Harry pulled one of the brown threads out of the creature, cringing and crying at his feet. Since he was... unarmed at the moment, he guided one of his own ropes to connect.

It was a RUSH. Harry could feel power, raw power... but also fear. Sadness. Anger. So much. He widened the connect. As he watched, the green power began invading... Goran? Goran. He could FEEL the power entering the creature.

Harry knew that what Goran needed was the ability to communicate. His mind was focused on physical strength only, the magic in his body was too close to earth and not at all like Harry's or Hagrid's, streaked with other colors.

As he widened the connection, Harry focused on the boy's brain. This troll was only 14 years old. Why had his friends wandered into the castle? He would need to be cared for.

Raw healing poured into the Trolls mind. Harry focused on treating the Troll like a slightly damaged human. More intellect, more memory, more reasoning... Speed. Think faster.

Maybe Harry should have healed himself before doing this. At least Wrath had stopped the blood loss.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor McGonagall was running at full speed, following a bushy haired girl through tunnels, around corners, and into portraits that even SHE had never seen before, running toward SOMETHING huge and in the castle.

Harry had never abused the privileges he had earned, he had never acted up. If he said there were monsters, Minerva was bringing all the help she could. She had already sent a Patronus Message to Flitwick to contact the Ministry for Aurors.

As she skidded around the corner she heard Hermione give a sharp gasp... Oh.

The hall was full of flesh and blood.

One Troll was missing an head, another one had a hole... Well, that one explained the cooked meat smell...

There was movement near the last creature... Oh Merlin. Harry.

Minerva took a hesitant step forward. The boy was staring at the fourth Troll, who was crying. His body was covered in blood. His left foot looked... wrong. His right hand was outstretched.

Where was his left arm?

Before she could do anything, the boy looked up... and SMILED. "Professor, I managed to keep one alive. I think I..." His face got confused looking. "I think I adopted it. Anyway, Goran is going to need some where to sleep. He has had a hard day so far."

Hermione seemed locked in shock. Professor McGonagall wasn't far behind her, honestly. "Mr... Mr. Potter." Her voice was barely loud enough to reach him. "Please back up, back away. I can take care of him, just stand back."

Harry actually rolled his eyes. "Relax Professor, Goran isn't going to harm anyone. He's just emotionally spent." To her horror, the boy reached down and patted the creature... who HUGGED Harry.

Hermione fainted.

Harry chuckled. "Every thing's green Goran. Just relax. Harry will take care of you, alright?"

A deep voice, sounding like one of those singers Minerva heard in the muggle world spoke up. "Daddy, I... I sorry. Please don't hurt me."

Harry gave the creature a hug... his one arm barely reached around the giant hand hugging him. "Don't worry son. I am going to take of you, alright? But first, we need to get you somewhere to sleep." He sniffed. "And a bath. Now, I am pretty sure that there are going to be some scary people showing up soon, so I am going to move us, alright?"

The creature gave a short nod. His face still looked mostly like a troll, but his eyes had a depth McGonagall had never seen before. As she watched, Harry waved a hand... and a layer of cloth streamed from his hand, weaving under the creature as it laid on the floor.

Seeing the teacher's confusion, Harry grinned. "Magic seems to have a tough time holding a Troll, but I can still work with stuff around them. Goran is really too tired to move now that I have changed him, so I can just move the cloth under him."

Harry waved his hand, and Hermione lifted in the air, as if sleeping on an invisible bed. Another wave and... oh Merlin, Harry's other ARM floated over to him too. "Well, I have had a full night. If you need me professor, I am heading over to the Hospital Wing."

Minerva just... what was she supposed to do with this? Three dead trolls, one that seemed to have been adopted by Harry Bloody Potter, and a passed out student... and his BODY...

Before she could shake off the shock, she heard rushing feet behind her. "Minerva, we came as soon as we got the message... Oh my." Amelia Bones looked at the war zone that had taken place. "This... well, I am impressed. These three would have been a strain to take down even with my men."

The teacher barely nodded. "Sorry Madam Bones, but I need to head to the Hospital wing. I can't even begin to explain what happened here, and I don't think I can let you talk to Harry Potter until his arm is reattached. At least."

She walked off, leaving silence and a certain level of shock behind her.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Madam Pomfrey had worked at Hogwarts as a nurse for years. She had healed thousands of students, from everything including teeth that tried to bite back and, in one unfortunate case, sudden twin syndrome. She felt pretty confidant that she could handle almost any situation.

She also loved boys like Harry, because she never saw them. They didn't poison themselves, they didn't fight in the hall, they stayed away from that DEATH TRAP called Quidditch.

She was slightly LESS happy with him wandering in without an attached arm.

"Harry Potter... Merlin boy, LAY DOWN. I need... blood replenishing... oh Merlin, I need almost everything..." She paused hearing Harry laugh.

"Madam Pomfrey, I am fine. Calm down." Seeing her glare at his former arm he sighed. "Don't worry about that, I have it covered. Could you look after Goran and Hermione for me while I heal myself?"

She was about to PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE (Armless, heal himself, indeed) until he glared. Those eyes... they told her he had it covered.

And she believed him.

But was still annoyed. "Fine, Mr. Potter. But after you 'Heal yourself' I am doing a through check, understood?"

He nodded. "Tell you what, you do the health check on Hermione and my Son, and then we get to me, alright?"

"Son?"

"The Troll."

"TROLL?"

Harry sighed. Why didn't people just roll with it? Seriously.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing to see Hermione sleeping on a bed, a Troll barely ON a bed being treated by a VERY frazzled Madam Pomfrey, and Harry potter flipping his arm in the air and catching it.

"MR. POTTER. PLEASE just... we need to get that FIXED."

Harry sighed and held his arm's hand against his forehead. "Professor McGonagall, could you bring me some raw meat, milk, and... uh. Twelve? Yes, Twelve eggs." He waved his missing arm. "If you can get me that, then I can heal myself."

It was a sign of how MANY strange things happened to Harry over the last few weeks that it only took another few minutes of arguments before Harry had some elf-provided bowls containing the ingredients (Including a chocolate cake for some reason. Not that Harry complained, not at all.)

At this point Amelia Bones entered, just as Harry began to glow golden.

His left arm floated against his body and the bowls began to empty. Scars vanished, VISIBLE bones began to retract and realign, his muscles began repairing even as his arm began connecting together. Loud snaps and crackles could be heard, making everyone (Including several stunned Aurors) wincing, as they watched the Boy-Who-Lived... rebuilding his body.

As the last bowl emptied, the child stood up, stretched, and held out a hand as the plate of cake landed in it. His other hand waved, and one of the bowls became a fork in his hand. "Seriously Madam Pomfrey, I ask for eggs and I get cake? I may have to get hurt more often."

Everyone heard a snort near the Troll. "Mr. Potter, as far as I can tell your son is fine, just asleep."

Amelia stared from the Boy-Who-Resurrected, Troll Potter, and a very stressed Professor. "So..." She paused. Where does one go from here? Turning to Harry, she held out a hand. "Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. My name is Amelia Bones, and I am head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Would you be able to answer questions about what happened tonight?"

Harry nodded. "It is pretty straight forward. I noticed four large creatures had somehow entered Hogwarts. I sent Hermione Granger..." He looked at the passed out girl with a small smile. "Who successfully found Professor McGonagall to get help. I sent Daphne Greengrass to make sure no one in the Great Hall left to bump into the creatures. And I went down to stall for time."

Harry grimaced. "It was a group of four mountain trolls. The leader tried to smash me. I wanted to delay them until help could arrive... but I was only able to restrain one using my magic, and it required active attention to maintain the binding. They are apparently VERY magic resistant."

He sighed, missing several looks the Aurors were giving each other. "At that point, I gave up on a peaceful resolution. If I got too hurt, one of them could escape and hurt children, which was NOT an acceptable outcome. So I went lethal." His face hardened. "I killed the one who hit me by launching stones through his chest. I destroyed the head of another one the same way. The leader tried to attack, so I burned him. Took way more power than I expected it too, as you may have guessed."

The boy got up and walked over to the last, huge troll. Casually, almost sweetly, he stroked the creatures head. "Goran was the last one. I was planing on restraining him, but he just... well, he was terrified. He was at my feet, crying. And I couldn't kill or let others kill something so... so afraid. I knew we couldn't just let him go. So I tried something."

Harry waved his hand, and there were several gasps as pure magic showed up between the two. "I bonded to the troll the way wizards bond to pet owls and stuff. He is only 14 you know. So I basically adopted him. As far as I am concerned, he is now Goran Potter. Even if he isn't by blood, and won't inherit the family name of course, I know he wouldn't be happy with it."

Seeing the shock he grinned. "I used the magical connection by the way to help him a bit. Goran has a vastly improved brain, as well as memory. It may be easier to imagine him as a very large child right now."

Madam Bones just... filed that away. This was too much right now. "There is no threat to the school right NOW, correct?"

Harry shrugged. "Well I want to ask Goran why they came up. The wards keep creatures from accidentally coming out of the forest, so either the leader was tricked or someone IN the castle was trying to bring a Troll in."

Harry saw horror in McGonagall's eyes, followed by determination. "Excuse me, Mr. Potter. I need to verify something with Albus."

He waved a hand. "Pretty sure it wasn't Dumbledore. He hasn't left his office all day. Felt him up there."

Amelia was still staring at the troll... Goran. "Mr. Potter, I am afraid that you will not be able to just... keep a troll. There are permits required to own and control a Dark Creature, which Trolls are considered to be an example of."

The boy's eyes sparkled. "Ah, tell me about these permits. And who can give them." Without looking, He held his arm out and Hedwig landed on it, swooping in from a window. "I think I can take care of this before morning."

Madam Bones sighed. Harry Potter? With Money? Yeah, he could probably pull it off. She gave him a serious look. "Harry, you know my Susan. Is she in danger from... Goran?"

Cold Green eyes looked back. "She is not in danger from anybody. No one will hurt my friends." His eyes lightened. "But I can also take full responsibility for Goran. He will not hurt anyone on purpose, unless it is for self defense. And after a bit of practice, even then he should be able to handle things peacefully."

Seeing her raised eyebrow, he grinned. "Ever wanted to teach a Troll Magic?"


	36. Old Son, Young Father

Harry sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands.

His dream of a normal life seemed laughable since he was eight, but this?

He absently looked over the documentation. Some quick letters to Nagnok, a VERY substantial and anonymous bribe, and he now had permission to own Dark Creatures up to class XXXX. It was SCARY how easy it was to do with a bribe. One more level and he could theoretically breed dragons.

Harry looked around at the extension to Hagrid's Hut. With Professor McGonagall's permission (Debatable, she basically was saying 'Just go away and let me get my bearings' but that was close enough for him) He had created a stone building that looked like an over sized apartment.

The floor was raised to prevent water seeping in, and he had pulled the bedrock up and firmed it around the base. A thick layer of wood was on top which acted like insulation (He harvested a tree from nearby, which was probably fine. Yeah.) Harry had used up a good amount of his personal raw material resources to get the metal, plastic, cloth and such to make a mattress, pillow, and some REALLY thick covers.

Goran was 12 feet tall after all, and the boy needed room to stretch out. Right now Harry was creating a basement, using the dirt to compress the ground around the building and the stone to build furniture upstairs. Well, he was supposed to be doing that.

Honestly he was sitting against the new wall feeling sorry for himself.

What else could he have done? Just killed Goran like the others? He looked so alone, he looked... it felt like he had seen himself, back under those stairs. Even though the boy didn't feel any anger at Harry's actions, he felt a certain amount of guilt.

He would do it again, if creatures or people threatened his friends... but the guilt still lived.

At some point he felt the ground shiver as Goran sat next to him. Harry gave a shaky grin up at the boy. "Never expected to be a dad at eleven. You ever imagine having a dad younger than ya?"

Huge shoulders shrugged. "Never thought before you helped me Da. We just... existed. Ate and squished and roamed." Dark brown eyes looked down at his green ones. "You didn't just give me a new language, or memories and stuff. You made me... more. I am not really a Troll anymore. Too smart by far."

Harry gave a sad nod. "Between you and me, I am not sure I am human anymore. Most of my body has been healed or replaced by magic at some point, if not all of it. I have to remember to age. I sometimes feel... scared about it."

There was a deep chuckle from his son. "Well, I think anyone wanting to argue with Da will have quite a time at it. Forcing you won't work well, I know that." He shivered. "Da, you... you were scary when fought."

Harry nodded. "Fighting is a scary thing." He grinned. "However, your friend took my arm off! And that was WITH me strengthening my body! Trolls are bloody AMAZING!"

Goran gave a strange grin. "And that is what we are like without training, without practice. Imagine if they could actually work in groups."

The two boys laughed. There was a bit of an edge to it, but it still helped them both find some sort of calm.

Harry stood, stretching his arms. "Well, enough rest for me. You've got a bed, table, some chairs, some shelves, one HEAVY stone door... can you handle it fine?"

Goran held up one of his massive hands. "I like something with a bit of heft to it."

"Fair enough. I owl ordered some raw materials from Nagnok, apparently my broom design did fairly well so far and he felt we could afford some extra materials thanks to the bonus. He also seems to find my new family humorous to some extent."

Goran stood, following Harry upstairs. "So... what am I going to do?" The nervousness was clear.

Harry gave him a huge smile. "Well, I will be stopping by often with friends, of course. I will be setting up downstairs as a new Magical Research Project room, so... Merp 2 or something. As for work, I believe Hagrid would LOVE your assistance. He has to handle all kinds of creatures that find weaklings like me tasty."

Goran snorted. Weak. Sure. "Well, if your friends want to come by. I... well, Trolls are not normally friendly, as one would say."

Harry rolled his eyes. "They normally don't talk English either. I will bring some people by later, just take a good nap and I will see you after lunch. The food on that bottom shelf is all locked down in Stasis, and I tied it to the shelf, so moving it off that shelf should release the charm." He grinned. "I mostly stuck with LARGE food, easy to handle. There is a grilled whole pig, for example, and a bowl of pineapples, uncut. Don't forget veggies and such."

He paused as he was about to exit. "In fact, I will bring by a bunch of dishes later, and we can find out what you like to eat. I assume raw food isn't the best thing you will ever taste, especially after you try bacon."

Goran laid on his new mattress. The springs were HUGE inside, but it still felt more soft than any ground he had slept on in his life. "Good night, Da."

"Night son. If you need me, just call me in your mind. I will be right here."

Goran nodded, already falling asleep. It had been a bit of a struggle getting him to walk this far to begin with, apparently Trolls tended to wander pretty randomly for long periods of time normally.

Harry waved a hand, opening the huge stone door so he could exit. Turning, he waved again to put a small label on the outside: 'Welcome to Goran Potter's Home'.

He smiled and headed back toward the castle. Harry knew this was odd... but when did Potter do normal?

~~~Core Threads~~~

There were a LOT of angry eyes when Harry entered the castle.

"Uh... Good morning everyone!"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" A Brown Haired Avenging Angel Strode up to him... and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Don't you EVER fight like that again. I had the WORST nightmare that you had been hurt!"

Harry coughed. "Uh... no, of course I wasn't."

Hermione froze, then began poking his left arm. "You... You were. And you are a bad lier." Her anger was starting to fight her natural urge to both hug him to death and pester him about how on earth he had reattached an ARM.

"Potter... are you feeling all right?" Daphne's hesitant question made him give a big smile, sharing it to the other girls and few guys who had been waiting in ambush.

Harry grinned, shifting Hermione to be beside him instead of in a choke hold. "Of course I feel find. Last night there was a... a bit of a tussle."

Terry snorted. "Tussle? Five seconds after Daphne runs in, claiming some monsters entered the castle, Professor Quirrell barely stagers in and starts yelling about TROLLS. By the time we all got settled down there were Aurors everywhere and no one was allowed to know anything, we were stuck in that hall for hours. Not even the teachers got to go to bed."

Neville gave a hesitant nod. "I heard that there were Dragons, and the Troll was a cover up."

Tracey threw a hand up, eager to join in on the rumor train. "I heard it was an army of inferni, zombie warriors."

Hannah stared at Tracey and took a slight step back. Turning to Harry, who seemed quite bemused by the rumors, she grinned. "So, where were you? I heard Madam Pomfrey was... annoyed that you had left early this morning."

His face paled. "Oh... I had never been in the Hospital Wing before, I didn't know we had to check out."

Padma stopped wringing her hands and jumped into the Hug Harry campaign (Currently ongoing, join today). "Harry, all they said was that you and Hermione were in the Hospital Wing, and we didn't know what was happening!"

Harry pretended to ignore the sniffling from Mione and Padma, giving them small squeezes. "Everything is fine, there was a small... scuffle at the front of the school. Daphne helped keep all the students safe, and Hermione got me backup to make sure they STAYED safe. And the rest of you also stayed safe, which is vital."

Hermione slapped his shoulder. "Harry, YOU need to stay safe too, you berk. We don't want you hurt."

Harry honestly felt... touched. It felt good, having someone... SEVERAL people, as he saw all the nods, want him to be protected too. He gave a grin. "WELL, enough mushy stuff. Anyone want to skip lunch and go on a picnic to visit my new son?"

Oh, these expressions were PRICELESS.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Neville and Susan were wandering slightly behind the group toward a stone building they had never seen before. It looked nice, if a bit cubeish... and HUGE. It was about double the height of Hagrid's hut.

Susan leaned against Neville, pitching her voice low. "So... his new son?"

Neville shrugged. "Obviously not genetic, but then again it IS Harry. For all we know, he time traveled and gave birth to Merlin or something."

She nodded. Being Harry's friend was a bit like riding a roller coaster that never stopped, but doubled in speed. She grinned. That said, they were all now coaster junkies.

Neville read the door as Harry wandered to go get Hagrid and introduce him to his new neighbor. "Goran Potter? Probably a guy, don't you think?"

The stone slab moved... Oh. Troll.

It smiled. "Hi!"

In their defense, no one screamed. Hermione DID get pretty close to fainting again though. Neville of all people stepped forward. "Hello. Are you Goran Potter?"

The smile got bigger. "Yes! Are you Da's friends?"

Hermione seemed to feel much better since the HUGE creature seemed to have a firm grasp of the English language... and a massive stone door. "If your Dad is Harry Potter, then yes. I am Hermione, and this is Hannah, Susan, Terry, Neville, Tracey, Daphne... uh. Padma seems to have followed Harry to get Hagrid..."

Goran smiled, and held the door wide open. "Well welcome everyone. Da's just finished something downstairs he called the Merp 2, whatever that means."

As everyone hesitantly walked in, they viewed the stone house with awe. Everything felt like a normal room... just BIGGER. The windows were nice although they had stone shutters, and they were tall. There was a thick green carpet on the floor, a couple of inches thick that looked a bit like grass. The walls were stone... but it looked tinted, like it was sky.

Everyone jumped a little at a knock at the door. There was a stone hanging that could be used to knock without hurting one's hands, but clearly this was just a large fist.

Harry pulled Hagrid in. "Now now, Hagrid, no need to knock.

Goran seemed to some how soften... oh. Neville realized he had been tense, and he had finally relaxed. "Da told me a lot about you, Mr. Hagrid. My name is Goran Potter."

Hagrid had a huge smile. It had been a LONG time since he had to look UP to someone, and Goran was four inches taller. "Now Goran, feel free to just call me Hagrid." They shook hands, causing a small shudder to go through the room. "Do you care for interesting creatures at all? Harry said ye may be interested in helping me with my duties around the forest."

Goran offered a stone chair to the man, while most of the children sat on the HUGE bed. Harry was pulling a WIDE eyed Padma over to another chair so they could sit at the table. The Troll turned his attention to Hagrid, his huge hands relaxed on the smooth table. "Now when you say interesting creatures..."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor McGonagall took a calming breath. It seemed Mr. Potter had... eased over a lot of the issues arising from last night. Well, it was most likely him... who else would 'donate' at such a specific time, so that all the paperwork that she was working on just sort of... vanished.

She had a small smile. As corrupt as the wizarding world was becoming, being on the OTHER side of the corruption was... well, an experience. Maybe a wealthy corrupting jerk who corrupted for the RIGHT causes... oh well. Too easy to go wrong, really.

Minerva called for one of the House-elves, and instructed that they should contact Harry Potter about what kind of food his new... son? Merlin she was not old enough to put with this kind of thing.

Thankfully Harry had suggested a working compromise, really. Hogwarts couldn't afford easily to construct a new home, but if Goran lived with Hagrid for a short while, maybe worked with him as Grounds keeper... Nothing in the forest would be able to do much to an INTELLIGENT troll. Frankly the thought frightened even her slightly. Trolls were so strong and magic resistant, they didn't NEED to know what was dangerous, or how to fight, or anything. They just... smushed anything that got in the way.

Put a mind behind that, and... well, Goran could handle the forest without issue.

As she headed toward Hagrids hut, she almost tripped.

There was a stone building behind it. Not a bad looking one either, if a bit basic. Most certainly water-proof... in fact, it looked a bit better than Hagrid's Hut. Better constructed at least.

As she reached the... wow, this was a tall door. She picked up a stone hung by some cord with the words "Use to Knock" etched above it.

The stone door swung open... She kept looking up. Well, he was smiling. "Good afternoon Mr. Potter. May I come in?"

He smiled more, letting her enter where she paused. There were quite a number of students here, a gathering of 'Harry's troop' as they were unofficially known. They were chatting idly, with Harry and Ms. Patil sitting at the table. Harry seemed to be talking to a small house-elf, giving large hand gestures.

She was shook from her thoughts as the large door swung closed... on stone hinges? Some sort of plastic layer inside them too. "This house is Amazing Mr. Potter."

"Thanks". The two vastly different Potters answered with matching grins. Goran offered her a chair so she could sit next to a happy looking Hagrid.

Hagrid leaned back. "So like I was saying see, Cerberus's are WAY misunderstood. Like soft pillows of fur they be, make no mistake. If you get a chance, play one some music and they be the most cuddly friends you ever met." He paused. "Ah, but smaller people get chewed on. Watch that, almost got in trouble once."

Goran's deep chuckle vibrated the floor slightly. "Back in my tribe, we ran into a Cerberus once. You would think it would learn to run after losing the first head, really."

Hagrid nodded. "I always thought it came from the voting, you know? Like, one head goes and the other two are stuck in a tie. Can't decide if he wants to run or stay."

Goran sighed. "They taste burned. Even raw. Daemon hell hounds, don't suggest it. Now, if you ever get to eat a Giraffe!"

Hagrid had a shocked look. "Where did Trolls see a Giraffe?"

He shrugged. "We didn't know that is what they were called, we just labeled them 'Long Necked Tasty Ones'." Now that I think about it, we must have eaten our way through a zoo at some point. Zebras also, really worth the effort."

Hagrid was about to continue this slightly horrifying discussion about eating anything that walked when Harry popped into the conversation. "So son, see my friend Doreen here?" There was a small eep from the tiny creature. Harry pressed a hand on her shoulder. "Doreen has offered to handle your food needs, and help keep the house clean from mud and stuff. She normally works in the castle, so you have to be very nice to her, all right?"

Goran nodded, leaning down on his hands and knees to see the elf better. "Hello Doreen. My name is Goran Potter. It is nice to meet you."

Doreen looked almost unusually young to Professor McGonagall, but she supposed there were problems trying to find elves willing to help the large Troll. The tiny one stood tall. "Hello, Master Potter. I be taking care of food and cleaning."

Again, the Troll nodded. "Well Doreen, could you bring snacks for my friends? And some tea? Harry has told me much about tea. A large container, preferably."

Harry raised a hand, his eyes glowing. Not really focusing on the gasps from around the room, he focused as a mug the size of a small barrel formed from stone with a polished surface formed. With a grin, he waved a hand and "Number One Son" was etched on the side.

If Harry was going to do this, why not go nuts?

Goran picked up his new mug... it was almost perfectly the size of his hand. His smile almost seemed permanent right now. "Th... thanks Da. I love it."

With a soft Pop there were sandwiches, plates, cups with pumpkin juice, and a small cup of tea in front of Harry. The boy grinned as well as he saw tea begin to fill Goran's huge mug. "I may drink more cups than you son, but I have a feeling you will STILL drink more tea."

Minerva just... it felt... the whole room, it felt like a family. Some of it had to be Harry's Aura, but it just felt like home. She relaxed and enjoyed a cup of tea while listening to a half giant and a troll talk about strange beasts they had encountered (And in most cases, eaten) over the years, while the children talked about assignments and whether or not they could convince Harry to make THEM some cool stone mugs.

~~~Core Threads~~~

In an abandoned classroom, a slightly twitchy man with a turban was being yelled at... by said turban. And losing, apparently.

"But I got SO MANY TROLLS! How was I to know it would be handled so quickly?"

Oh, that did NOT help his case.

Sometimes selling your body to evil spirits of dark lords of destruction and torture just didn't seem worth it.


	37. Two Snakes

Harry stared absently at the table covered in notes. Income might become a bigger issue than he had originally thought. Taking care of himself would have not made a dent in the Potter family finances.

But with a troll son, the numbers changed. Harry couldn't bare the thought of leaving Goran here all summer, alone. He had lost his clan after all, and basically lost his species. And if Harry had learned anything from working with the ministry through Nagnok, it was that corruption was everywhere.

Considering how their hero was abandoned by the magical world, Harry didn't want to think about what they would do to a 'Dark Creature' near their kids without supervision. And constant bribes would REALLY start hurting his future plans.

He idly spun his wand through his fingers as he looked over some random research notes. He knew that he was going to make a home someday... apparently that someday was by the end of the year. Goran needed a safe place to go home to when Harry was not at school.

Leaning back in his chair, he watched his friends, all working on their own projects. Hermione was working with Daphne trying to adapt Harry's Stasis charm to be easier for others to cast. Apparently all the extra movements and words created a series of stages for learning the final spell. Since Harry could actually SEE his mistakes, he hadn't bothered on making a longer, louder version for younger students... he would have to keep it in mind in the future.

He had heard that Tracey and Padma were still working on beauty and makeup charms. He would probably invest in what they create, since the beauty industry was so popular in the non-magical world. Harry suspected a good amount of the charms could be adapted for disguise work as well. Susan and Neville had taken up another project of Harry's, finding better non-lethal attack options.

Harry glanced at his hand. In a way, he still felt they were covered in blood. The trolls were not human, but they had intelligence. If he had some better methods of restraining them, maybe he could have given Goran friends instead of graves. Neville had surprisingly volunteered, helped by Susan of course, and together they were gathering information about hexes and charms to restrain a person, by magic, mind, or body.

Harry gave a small grin. Compared to everyone else, Terry was working on learning how to make his own Quidditch equipment, even floating rings so that pickup games of Quidditch would be possible. Harry had helped out a little, just so he could stop thinking some of the darker thoughts. Sometimes working on a silly project could really relax a person.

He sighed, looking back at sheets of notes. Harry had sent paperwork to Nagnok to begin searching for the largest amount of cheap land for sale he could find, preferably a dump or spell-cursed area. Sure it would take time to cleanse, but Harry felt the free materials and cheap land would balance that nicely.

The real problem was the wards. Harry had looked at the goblin's offerings, and had felt annoyed. They didn't seem as covering as the red network in his own home, and he wanted any new home to be AT LEAST as safe as his old place. Not to mention that the goblins charged a LOT for those wards of theirs, and Harry needed funds as it was.

He wasn't worried about the break in that Hagrid had mentioned, although the large man seemed shocked that he had mentioned it at all... Great guy, but not great at being subtle, really. Harry assumed that the thief had employed social engineering to get in, not ward breakers.

Security is worthless if you open the door FOR them, after all. And the bank is DESIGNED to let lots of people in all the time. Slip-ups will occur.

Of course, the only other wards Harry had seen was the series around Hogwarts. They weren't perfect, but they were bloody complex... layers of domes, spinning threads that crossed and twisted, alerts and charms woven like vines throughout it. It was almost an organic defense, grown as generation after generation of Headmaster increased and complicated each ward.

Not really practical for a home though.

Harry glanced at his arm, watching the green ropes where his threads used to be. After the strange shifting he had done during the troll attack, his power seemed to flow much smoother, thicker. It was almost worth the pain he had gone through, in a way.

He guessed that shifting hurt so much because of all the odd wards around Hogwarts, although it may have been due to the amount of power he had used to move like that. Either way he had decided to hold off on shifting until he could have Wisdom do some research on wizard transportation spells.

Once again, he moved his personal fears and worries to the back of his mind. Still, he had been researching wards for hours now, and maybe he should take a break.

Standing, Harry stretched. Seeing Daphne's raised eyebrow, he grinned. "Been staring at wards too much, taking a break. Either of you two want to go on a walk?"

Hermione barely raised a hand, still buried in a book about spell creation. "I'm good Harry, I think I am close to a breakthrough really." Her other hand was writing notes with a pen into a notebook.

Daphne stretched, causing Harry to blush and look away. She smirked. "Sure, down to the lake?"

He grinned and they headed up the stairs of Merp 2. Goran was out, in the woods with Hagrid being introduced to the local delicacies... uh, creatures. Harry sighed. At least the boy would be easy to feed.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne took a deep breath. The October air was crisp, and walking near the lake let quiet sounds of water relax her. After the study session with Hermione, this was a relief. That girl seemed to bury herself in whatever challenge she finds and refuses to let up.

She looked at the boy walking with her. Harry was... well, interesting. Slightly dangerous. Kind of cute... uh, reserved. Yeah.

The look in his eyes when he commanded her to warn the Great Hall had sent shivers down her spine.

Still... "Potter, do you think the trolls were sent to the castle?"

He gave a lopsided grin that made her squirm a little inside. "Why Ms. Greengrass, I doth protest thy formal language of a most extreme nature."

She rolled her eyes. "Harry then. I mean, those were mountain Trolls, not a lot of mountains around here. Someone had to have let them in, right?"

Harry sighed. "I think so. I didn't feel who was around when I noticed them entering the front entrance. I am not sure what they hoped to accomplish, but I couldn't risk waiting to find out." He gave a small frown. "I doubt it was intended to target me, even though I took the most damage. It wasn't likely intended to push forward DeathEater ideals either, since there was no signs, warnings, or other notes claiming responsibility, which terrorists tend to do when trying to push fear."

She pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "Well, assuming the one responsible was not aiming for random fear, then they were either creating a mess to attack leadership at Hogwarts, creating a distraction so they could do something at Hogwarts, or testing the defenses of the school for a future event." She gave a slight head shake. "Although the testing thing seems... oh. They could be trying to get Aurors stationed here at the school so that an event elsewhere would have less people responding to it."

Daphne noticed him giving her a huge grin. "What?"

He chuckled and his eyes glittered slightly. "You know Ms. Greengrass, I am quite lucky to be surrounded by such intelligent women."

She raised her nose. "Of course you are, Mr. Potter. And you shall be grateful of such an honor, of course."

His grin widened. "But of course, my Lady. I surly count my days as filled with joy and fortune to be such honored at a time as this."

Daphne rolled her eyes, fighting to keep her cheeks from blushing. Something about 'My Lady' sounded... nice. "So, what should we do if this incident was not random?"

Harry seemed to almost collapse into a serious expression. "I have started tagging students with threads, and offering ropes to my closest friends." He gave her a look. "I... I would be grateful if you would accept one."

Ah. Daphne tried to control her face. "By rope, you mean your magic, yes? What are the... effects? Benefits? I must still represent the Greengrass House as members of the Gray party, the neutrals. I can't... I mean, even if I wanted to, I can't commit too much to one side or the other."

Harry seemed to also have troubles looking at her. "Well, I first discovered the effects near the start of the school year really, when I was showing my friends my mind scape. It acts like an advanced version of Occlumency, mental defenses. Several of my closest friends helped me test the benefits."

He held up some fingers. "First, sorting memories becomes easy, and they stay sorted. You can create mental constructs to automatically sort for you, although I am the only one who has done that so far. Time moves faster in your mind, so you can train and practice and learn stuff faster there, including reading books and stuff." He tapped his forehead. "Secondly, with a rope I can create a door between our mental worlds, so others can join in. It allows mental communication if I act as a hub, and Hermione thinks I may be able to share ideas or training directly someday by just handing a copy of a memory to someone."

His face grew serious. "The biggest benefit, security wise, is that I can feel your location, a general status of being, such as afraid or hungry or whatever, and in extreme emergencies I can shift directly to your location, like I did with the trolls."

Her eyes were huge. "Wow... my family taught us basic Occlumency, but that sounds beyond master level... does it hurt?"

Harry blushed. "Actually, the problem is the opposite. Well, not the mental connection bit... See, to connect to your own mind you need at least one rope of magic, and most people don't naturally develop those, just threads and hairs." He looked away. "The process of settling the core doesn't hurt, but it feels... personal. ESPECIALLY when I sync your wand back up."

Looking back, he saw her raised eyebrow. "Oh, after I setup your magical core, the wand can't connect the same way. So I allow the wand to connect to you fully. It is literally the best connection you can ever find, and I can do it with any wand really." He grimaced. "Although due to the... feelings... I really prefer to only off that to women. It is... well. Awkward."

Oh, that eyebrow could raiser higher. Neat. He coughed. "Anyway, Hermione suggested we stop adding people until we can make sure we trust them. I talked about it with the others a bit, and we think you and maybe Tracey would be interested in being the first Slytherins invited."

There was a slightly awkward pause. Daphne looked at Harry. "Are there side effects?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, Hannah's core was pretty messed up, so when I settled it she had a pretty hefty power boost. Neville... well, most of his issues were really due to his wand, so he saw a LOT of improvement there." He tilted his head. "Without me holding the connection, most of my friends can only visit their mind scape for about an hour in real time, although how long that is internally changes based on how much you practice. Hermione can stay for 5 hours in her mind for each hour outside, now."

She raised an eyebrow. "How long can you stay there?"

Harry shrugged. "Never reached a limit. And one hour can last for... well, I'm not sure. I think I stayed a week in a few minutes. I sometimes go to my mind instead of sleep, so it is like an eight month break where you don't need to sleep, eat, or drink."

He grinned. "I still do though. Eat and drink I mean. Wrath even combines my memories of tea to make new blends."

Daphne seemed to be trying to grasp onto something stable, mentally at least. "Wrath?"

Harry nodded. "I created some mental aspects, or parts of me. Jim, Wisdom, and Wrath. I may have to create a new one just for surveillance though." His eyes darkened. "We were lucky. Jim wasn't supposed to be watching my thread network when he saw the trolls, he was just... there. Right time. Even then, they had been within detection for about an hour before they got into the hall."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, it makes sense I suppose. Can't really require the DA to monitor so much stuff all the time and handle local defense. And infiltration I suppose."

Daphne sighed next to him, as she sat in the grass, looking over the lake. In the distance, a tentacle was throwing what appeared to be mer-people, spinning like skipping stones. Harry sat next to her, giving her a chance to think about it.

"Potter, I will need to think about this. Let me talk to Tracey and get back to you on it, ok?" Her light blue eyes had a note of pleading in them he didn't remember seeing before.

He gave a smile. "Of course, Daphne. If you have any questions, let me, Hermione, or Padma know."

She blinked. "Padma?"

"Made a mountain of puppies. I like her inner world. Lots of baby animals."

NOW there was a gleam in her eyes Harry recognized. Baby animals? Heck yeah!

They watched the lake and enjoyed the quiet. Well, mostly quiet. Apparently it is harder to skip mer-people when they start stabbing with tridents.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor McGonagall was sitting through another meeting about those damn trolls. Well, not Goran, of course. The dead ones. The worst part was she couldn't really object to how much everyone was reacting.

Mountain Trolls in a school, for Merlin's sake.

Thankfully for everyone, Harry had somehow found out, taken care of it... violently. Half the people in each meeting didn't even argue the idea, as if it was NORMAL for 11 year olds to kick troll and take names.

Well, normal for the Boy-Who-Lived. Sadly at this rate, it may well be true.

Thankfully this meeting was most a staff one, so Minerva was USED to being annoyed with most of them.

"The boy probably brought ALL the trolls, trained them, and then tripped as they killed each other."

She sighed. "Thanks Severus, we will keep that in mind."

Everyone paused suddenly as Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet. "Trolls have been known to trip. Severus has my complete confidence."

He then sat on the table.

Minerva tried NOT to sigh. Too much sighing had to be bad at some point. "Thank you Albus. Are you implying that you agree with Severus that Harry was secretly gathering trolls?"

The man smiled, eyes glittering. "Well, he is a bit young to be gathering as a single father. But I suppose everyone sows their wild oats at some point." He held open a huge pouch. to Professor Sprout. "Watermelon dear?"

Filius Flitwick gently rested his hand on Dumbledore's shoulder. "Albus, Harry is not the natural father of the troll. He is acting as a parent only. I am fairly sure that he is not attracted to female trolls."

Albus gave a knowing nod. "I must say, I didn't realize the boy was homosexual."

Everyone paused for a moment. THAT was a mental image. With a light cough, Professor Sinistra leaned in. "Headmaster, Professor Flitwick was trying to imply that Harry Potter is likely attracted to other humans. Based on his expressions, likely women."

Albus gave a regal nod, turned to Severus Snape and held open the sack. "Severus, care for a watermelon?"

With a sneer, the man focused on the group. "That Potter brat is likely gathering more dark creatures as we speak. Expulsion should be the BEGINING of his punishments. Maybe something with a bit of blood to it."

Caretaker Filch gave a ragged and dark grin. "Aye, bring back some of the good punishments, the old stuff. I still oil my chains, and the screws are ready when needed."

A very tired and stressed Minerva glared at the man. "Thank you, Mr. Filch. I will keep that under advisement." Here eyes slightly glanced at the greasy man spewing anti-potter propaganda. Probably unprofessional to think about such things. Oh well.

With considerable effort and only one accident involving a watermelon, Professor McGonagall tried to get through the meeting without turning anyone into a shoe.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had worked through several books about warding at this point, and was narrowing his focus down to one book that mentioned a strange sounding but VERY useful charm. The Fidelius charm.

From the description, it did three things. First, it bound a location and marked it. Second, it moved everything inside the marked area into an alternate dimension, a pocket reality, only accessible if a secret is known. Third it actively created a field where knowledge of reality could only be kept or remembered if the secret was known.

Harry had been studying it for hours now. The benefits were huge. Secured areas were unreachable in any form or method if the secret is unknown, the secret had to be willingly given or it would delete itself from the memory of anyone who found it. Only the secret keeper was able to write, speak, or think the secret. It acted like a virus, spreading from person to person, leaving very small changes.

Not only was your home protected from almost ANYTHING, at least anything that didn't damage reality, but even the existence of the home vanished. So no one would even think to TRY and find it.

The downsides were huge though. If the secret keeper was known, they could be emotionally forced to tell the secret. Torture and such of a physical or magical nature would prevent the secret being stolen though. Casting the charm was rough as well, although most of the power was used by moving the area into another reality, which is why it was heavily restricted on how large an area the charm could protect.

Still, the memory and secret part was cheap to cast... and Harry could see uses for this. If he could modify what the secret was, then just about any information could be protected pretty darn well. Maybe he could even make himself his own secret keeper?

No, it doesn't look like it. Making one's self the secret keeper broke the charm, since it kept trying to both give the secret and take it away until it ran out of energy.

But what if one of his aspects held it?

Harry grinned and went back into his notes. Information security would never be the same after this.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Tracey was looking at Daphne like she was a flamingo. "So... Harry offered to rope us?"

"NO! Merlin, just... just listen when I speak, ok?" Stupid blushes. "He would connect us with magic, and teach us a couple of abilities he has. It would protect your mind from Professor Snape and others who use Legilimency to read minds."

She tilted her head. "Uh... but won't it feel weird? I never heard about having other people's magic in you." She gave a slow smile. "It sounds a bit dirty."

Daphne gave an exasperated sigh. "EVERYTHING sounds dirty to you Trace. Now listen, the part I am not sure about it that he has to 'settle our cores' so we can access our own mind worlds."

Tracey raised an eyebrow. "Settle our cores, huh?"

Daphne's face was now fairly red. "Look, it just SOUNDS wrong when I say it."

She grinned. "But it sounds right when Haaaary says it."

Tracey received a pillow to the face.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Susan and Neville were going through a fairly large set of texts, building a list of non-lethal spells along with which book to find details.

Neville nodded. "Add Impedimentia. It seems to do random effects for a set amount of time... freezing motion, binding, pushing, tripping... The varied nature makes it hard to prepare for."

Susan nodded. "I definitely think we should have Expelliarmus. Auntie says it is mandatory, since it attempts to remove any item the target thinks of as a weapon. You have to cast it several times though if they have more than one wand or sword or whatever."

Neville grinned as he wrote with these new 'pens'. Quills were miserable compared to these. "Tongue Tying and Jelly-Legs curses should be added. Both affect the body and make battle harder. Especially if there is lots of dodging, or they are bad with silent casting."

Susan pulled her book closer. "Most wizards are pretty bad with silent casting. It is why Auror training has gotten longer after they leave Hogwarts, and even then some don't manage it." She pointed a finger at a page. "Incarcerous, creates animated rope that can tie someone up. Don't know if it can do cable or chain as well, but we should look it up."

Neville paused on a page. "Levicorpus seems useful for several things. It grabs a person and allows you to levitate them. Locomotor Mortis seems like an older version of the Leg-Lock curse. Still useful."

Susan paused. "We should reorganize these. Lets make a list of all the spells with similar effects. Anything that paralyzes a part of the body in to column A, everything that allows forced movement into column B, anything that affects the mind into column C."

Neville pulled out more parchment and began re-listing. "To make it easier to remember?"

She shook her head. "To see if Harry can combine some of them. If they seem so similar, maybe he could make a really simple to cast version and a really strong but slow one. You know, something not well known. It would give Aurors the edge in battle, without having to slaughter everyone."

Neville grinned. "Wouldn't have the same cancellations either, so they could be used in real battles to gain prisoners and enemy information."

Susan grinned and wondered how long it would take for Neville to realize he had forgotten to be shy.

Hopefully a while.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Padma was working on a new skin cream that would use small amounts of magic to perfectly match undamaged skin and then set itself, creating a cover-up that wouldn't wash off till dispelled. She had also gotten Fred and George Weasley's help setting the counter charm to something non-standard to prevent accidentally (Or in the case of mean people, purposefully) messing up the look.

The problem was that she had accidentally gotten some on her finger and then on her lip.

So now her mouth was sealed shut.

She mumbled in annoyance, waiting in the Hospital Wing until Madam Pomfrey could decipher her terrible scribbles and cast the counter, "Kittens Rule."

She really should have waited for Tracey to get back before fiddling with the prototypes.

Padma tried to grumble quieter as she retreated to her mental world. If she was stuck here for five minutes (WHICH IS FOREVER, MERLIN), then she might as well hug a kitten.

Madam Pomfrey nearly had a heart attack when she finally got the counter-spell and found Padma in what appeared to be some sort of self induced coma. Thankfully Padma managed to distract her long enough to get away, claiming daydreams and kittens.

Thankfully it was close enough to the Truth that Padma could pull it off.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry nervously sat in a chair in Merp 2, facing an elegant beauty and a woman full of innuendos and energy.

"So Harry, going to tie us up?"

Daphne flushed slightly and swatted Tracey's shoulder. "NO... I mean, no. Not that kind of rope. Shh."

Harry had a glowing face. "Ahh... Sorry to disappoint you, Tracey."

The girls eyes dropped before going back to his face. "Oh, I'm sure you..."

Daphne THANKFULLY got a hand over the girls mouth and gave an awkward eep. "SO POTTER, uh... Ready to do that rope thing you talked about?"

Tracey grinned as Harry seemed to blush more, and pulled the hand from her mouth. "Oh my, Daphne. So Forward."

Harry tried to focus. "So we should have probably done this without Tracey, huh?"

Daphne didn't get a chance to answer. "Nothing wrong with an extra pillow, Harry."

Ah, so Daphne DOES know the silencing spell. The two blushing children tried to ignore the hyperactive girl. Harry cleared his throat. "So now that we have made this as awkward as possible, shall we move on?"

Daphne gave a relieved smile. "PLEASE, feel free. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can pretend none of that happened."

Tracey was wiggling her eyebrows. She found this whole situation FAR too funny for Harry's tastes.

Harry gently placed a palm on both their foreheads and his eyes glowed. "First, allow me to introduce you to my world."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne felt the soft palm on her skin and felt a tingle run through her body. Somehow it felt more intimate because of the tenderness, the softness of the touch. As she tried to stay calm she saw Harry's eyes begin to glow...

Green. Deep, crystal green, with ribbons of white creating deep patterns. Waves. Stripes. The world began to fade. Gently at first, she began to smell... stone. Freshly chiseled, etched with runes over the course of months. Her fingers felt slightly rough, like she had spent the day carving some masterpiece. Her ears heard the echo of a deep cavern, and her skin felt cool with the earth's breath flowing over it.

She was falling into those eyes.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Tracey always felt being outrageous protected her. If everyone else was off guard, if she could control where the conversation was going, she had power. She was protected.

She was scared. Scared of doing this. But Daphne was set on this, and Tracey trusted her.

Harry's hand felt cool on her skin. As she tried to stay still, his hand seemed to settle her, like a stone holding her in place in the world. Suddenly she was no longer worried about the future, or alliances, or grades... there was only now.

As she felt the calm soak into her body, she could feel... safety. She looked up...

Green. Harry's eyes were like an ocean, slowly rolling over her without covering her mouth or nose. Just relaxing on a beach as the warm salty water rolled along her body, pushing and pulling her across the sand. Her ears could almost hear seagulls as her fingers flexed to touch the grains of sand.

Her mouth started to turn into a real smile, carefree... as the waves began to gently pull her toward some distant island.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had a smile on his face as he sat at a white metal table. Jim was away, training his Duck Avengers to act more like ninjas for future mind missions. Wisdom however said she would have some time to join them after she finished organizing the Ward information Harry had gained today.

As he watched, both girls arrived. Daphne wearing an almost black shirt with blue streaks, Tracey with hot pink. Tracey looked at the shirt with an appraising eye. "Oh my... this is nice." She raised an eyebrow.

Daphne squirmed a bit. "Bit revealing though, isn't it? Especially compared to a robe."

Tracey grinned. "Oh you haven't BEGUN to see revealing yet."

Harry coughed, pushing two cups of tea forward. "Sorry, I had to pick clothing out for each of you. Until you remember to think of yourself with clothing... well, it can be a bit awkward." He tried not to notice the other two blushing. "Anyway, the color I chose because it matches the color of your own cores."

Seeing Daphne's raised eyebrow, Harry raised a hand, green cables creating a complex pattern. "I can see magic as threads. As guests in my mind, you can see them as well if I wish it."

Tracey reached out and tried to touch one of Harry's ropes. He obligingly moved one over for closer inspection. "I... I still can't touch it."

Harry shrugged. "Unless you will it, magic pretty much doesn't touch anything. It's why science has a hard time believing it exists, since it doesn't naturally interact with the world. Or at least, that is MY opinion on why science can't seem to handle it."

Daphne looked down. Her core had... streaks. The blue looked like water almost, but the black looked like hard stone that somehow flexed. Like obsidian. Her core was... beautiful. Chaotic though, like it was fighting itself.

Tracey was poking Daphne, trying to make her core move. After a couple of swats she looked down at her own... it was pink, like a blushing cheek, and almost tube shaped. She frowned. That... didn't seem right somehow.

Harry gave a smile. "So who wants their core stabilized first?"

Tracey raised her hand. "Please... something looks wrong about mine. It... just wrong."

Harry gave a sharp look, eyes glowing a fierce green. "Oh... oh. Yes. One second." He raised a hand absently and both girls heard a woman call. "Be there soon Harry!"

Daphne paused. "Um. Potter, who was that?"

He looked away from a slowly blushing Tracey. Having his eyes look inside her made her feel... interesting. "I have created avatars in my mind. That was Wisdom. She organizes my mental library and helps me research."

Half way through his words Daphne saw a fairly attractive librarian walking up from some sort of door into the grass... grass? The world had a crystal blue sky with clouds, green grass everywhere... wow she had been distracted.

The librarian smiled. "Hello Daphne, Tracey. Thank you both for helping Harry get the information I need, it has been very useful." She affectionately ruffled Harry's hair. He rolled his eyes.

Tracey relaxed a bit. "Well, we didn't know we were passing it along, but glad to help!"

Harry waved Wisdom closer. "Do you recognize what this core shape means?"

She leaned closer to a now nervous Tracey with analytical eyes. "Well it is very unstable. If she received a huge shock to her system, or if she cast a spell too powerful or for too long, her core could collapse."

Daphne gasped and held Tracey's arm tightly. Tracey's face went pale. "My Gran Gran died that way. She tried to stop Death Eaters from hurting my mom." Her eyes started to tear up. "She didn't make it. Without her magic, she was too old."

The crying girl was hugged by Daphne, who was looking at Harry with desperation. "You said you could help, right? You can fix this? RIGHT?"

Harry gave her a solemn nod. "Of course. Tracey, please stand."

Holding back sniffles, she stood with Daphne's arm around her. Harry motioned her back. "I don't want to have anything happen during this, so give a bit of space, ok Daph?"

With her quick nod, Harry reached forward to Tracey, a hand on either side of her face. Gently raising her to look into his eyes, he smiled.

Tracey could feel his hands calming her again. The tightening in her chest was gently relaxing... Oh that smile. Her heart fluttered slightly, her skin tingled... suddenly warmth spread through her skin. Every inch his hands touched on her face began warming as if relaxing on a hot beach in summer...

POWER. Her whole body was being hugged, her SOUL was being held tightly and gently. Her body twitched slightly as her muscles tried to somehow be even MORE embraced by this... this WARMTH. Things were shifting in her, moving... it was like a kink was gone, like a strained muscle was relaxing. Her body was... so relaxed.

Daphne watched closely, her chest tight with worry as her best friend was being almost cradled by Harry Potter. His power flowed like green ribbons, surrounding her, holding her... as the light faded, she rushed back in and hugged her. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Anything?"

Tracey's face was almost glowing. "Now THAT was... wow." Her eyes got a mischievous glitter. "Harry, you're hired."

His face was blank. "What?"

She grinned past a stunned friend. "Whatever you just did, do that forever. Daily. WOW that felt awesome."

His blush was epic. Daphne wasn't far behind. "So... I assume no pain then?"

Tracey looked down. Her core was now a perfect sphere, with three pink ropes and lots of pink threads... it almost looked like a pink furry bunny or something. "Honestly, I feel like something that was hurting for years just got better. And I didn't even KNOW it!" Her eyes were starting to glisten a bit, but she didn't seem to notice. "Harry, if you ever need a favor, let me know."

Harry grinned and squeezed her shoulder. "Anytime, Tracey."

Tracey nodded. "Now do that amazingness to Daphne. I want to see her face."

Daphne almost eeped before swatting her friend. "Shush you."

Harry grinned at the relief he could feel from both girls. "So Daphne, what do you want to do with your core? You seem to have two colors. Do you want to blend them, or make them more separate?"

She looked down, stepping away slightly from her friend. "I'm not sure... what do you think?"

Harry shrugged. "Combining would be easy, but I bet there are cool things each color can do the other can't... or can't that well. I would keep em."

Daphne took a deep, slightly wavering breath and stood tall. "Then try and keep them separate, please. I wouldn't want to lose an advantage in the future."

Harry had a soft smile on his face as he reached out and cradled Daphne's cheeks. He barely registered her blush as he began to focus.

Oh Merlin he is RIGHT THERE... oh that smile... His hands touched her face and she could feel her whole spine tingle, like someone had just played an amazing song that somehow shook her soul. His skin was so warm it was like a hot cooking stone.

It was like a wall of soft stone collapsed on her. Soft sand, warming her, wrapping around her limbs, her arms, her thighs... warm, slightly pulsing... Harry's heartbeat? Against her skin she felt emotions of care, of warmth, of affection. She felt as if the world was falling away as those green eyes slowly filled the universe. She gave a small sound, a sigh? a moan? It felt amazing. Somewhere in her chest she felt something pulling, tugging... just gently massaging her, as if she were covered in warm oils and being rubbed to tenderness.

She almost passed out.

As she refocused on the grass below her, she realized there was a giggling... Oh Merlin. "Tracey, you saw nothing, heard nothing, you were never here."

Poor Harry looked painted red. "Um. That was... well, that was new. Never felt like that before."

Tracey was poking Harry in the ribs with her elbow. "If it felt even half as good as mine did, you probably broke her. And based on your expression, hers was probably AMAZING."

Daphne apparently also learned how to blush from masters. "I was just tired or something. It... caught me off guard." Tracey was still giggling. "SHUSH Tracey."

Tracey paused and gave a small gasp. "Oh... Oh Daphne, it's beautiful..."

Daphne looked down... It was an obsidian ball, with two large, thick ropes that almost looked like columns of stone from a Greek coliseum. Between them was a pool of blue water, which curled into a stream that barely looked like a rope at all. The black had lots of thread spikes, and the blue had rivulets of threads that flowed gently.

Tracey's finger barely touched her side, trying to follow the pattern. "It looks... almost like a rock garden."

Harry interrupted and gave a hesitant grin. "Just a side note you two, there may be an issue. Just a small one."

Both girls were now focused on Harry... who seemed to be carefully studying the ground. "Uh... so the part I told you about, the one that was awkward because it felt... interesting. That is the next step."

Daphne felt her mouth go dry. "Um. So we haven't started that yet?"

Even Tracey seemed a bit taken back. "Oh." She rallied. "Well, what is it? What do we do next?"

Harry waved his hand, his wand appearing in it. "Well, both of your cores are massively different now than they were. Your wands won't connect the same way, so they won't work for you now. The next step is to help your wands connect with your core again."

Tracey gave a grin. "Well, I went first last time, so why not again? What do I do?"

He nodded. "Hold your wand out. Just imagine you have it and it should show up."

Tracey hesitantly held her hand out... and frowned. Her wand was there, but she couldn't feel ANYTHING. It was like... a stick.

Before she could start really freaking out, Harry reached out and gripped the tip of her wand. Suddenly her arm felt... oh. Small kisses were running up the inside of her arm... Her eyes got huge. Looking at Harry, whose eyes were closed, she tried to hold in the odd noises her body wanted to make. As the kissing reached her armpit she let loose a small 'EEP', and made sure NOT to look toward Daphne... oh. It's not stopping at her shoulder...

She almost whimpered as the kissing moved down her chest and reached her core... and it felt like her real lips were being given the softest of kisses. Her eyes actually fluttered close...

"One down."

Her eyes snapped open. "WAIT, How many times do you have to do that?"

Harry was looking at her wrist, his face... well, red was an understatement. "Uh, your wand has twelve strands. So eleven more times."

She gave a small whimper and her legs twitched. She was going to have to keep her thighs tense or... this was going to be rough.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne was concerned. They had both finished the wand binding, but neither one was moving and their faces were almost blood red. "Tracey... everything go ok?"

Tracey paused before a huge smile crossed her face. "Ye... yeah. You know, that was... Thanks Harry." Her face had some sort of... hunger in it? She looked up at Harry, who seemed relieved that she was not hurt... or actively trying to kill him. Holy Merlin that was intense.

Tracey grinned. "You know Harry, I will probably need another wand in a few years. Would you mind helping me then?"

Harry couldn't speak, but gave a short nod. Tracey's smile was pretty big, before it became a bit... predatory. "Now Daphne, I believe it is YOUR turn."

Daphne felt her mouth go dry. From the noises earlier, she had felt it was likely the whole process hurt or something, but neither of them were saying anything. Still, if Tracey could handle it, so could she.

Harry hadn't gotten up yet. "Just... give me a second."

As he gently sat beside Daphne, he gestured for her to lay down. "If this is ANYTHING like it was with Tracey, you will probably will want to be laying down for this."

Seeing Tracey's emphatic nods, she laid down, and held her right arm out. As Harry grasped the end of it, she felt a heat in her hand... did he just! Looking up with narrowed eyes, she saw his eyes closed, and mouth FAR away from her... AGAIN! Oh... oh. As the warm moved up her arm, she could feel... fingers rubbing small circles, gentle kisses... was that a lick?

When it reached past her shoulder she gave a near inaudible squeak. Down her chest, toward her core, fingers, gentle lips... her mind was starting to give her TERRIBLE thoughts as she tried not to move, not to think. CERTAINLY not to look toward Tracey. Not even a bloody WARNING!

Thankfully it was near her core, as she wasn't sure she could handle much more of...

OH MERLIN.

It felt like hands were holding her head gently as someone kissed her deeply, stroking her hair. For a moment she actually tried to get closer, to return... oh. Wow.

Her partially glazed look turned to Harry. "S... So. How many more times? You said eleven, right?"

He was staring at her wand, slightly shaking. He coughed slightly. "Each... uh. Each wand is different. Yours has 18 threads, so..."

Bloody Hell.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Two blushing witches and a wizard sat on a bench near the golden lake, sipping tea.

Tracey HAD meant to tease Daphne... but... well, yeah. Apparently there was a bit more of a connection there magically than either had suspected. She cleared her throat. "So... was that normal?"

Harry shook his head. "When I first did this, I had just turned 11, it was almost accidental. But it was only a few weeks ago... I am not sure why it felt so different this time."

Daphne coughed. "Uh... did you know them before you matched their wands?"

He shrugged. "For a few minutes. Not even a day."

There was a pause. Tracey leaned slightly into the boy, who was wedged between the two. "How did you feel about the girls when you did it?"

He wiggled a bit. "Back then, it was just strong friendship, some mild attraction maybe. Except for Terry... that one felt weird. Couldn't do this for guys again after that."

Daphne had a thoughtful look. "I thought you did this for Neville?"

Harry's blush got darker. "Couldn't handle it, so I tried passing it through Susan's magic."

Tracey noticed the blush. "Did... did it make it better?"

He shook his head. "Worse. Never felt a woman like that before. Very awkward. And that was just my side, I am sure those two felt... things."

Daphne saw Tracey's look. They had to get onto a new topic before this degraded. "WELL, how about some training? You said something about our own inner worlds?"

Harry had a smile on his face as he fought through his embarrassment. Even now he had trouble looking directly at either of the girls. "Well, over here then. These are the doors, each connected to another mind." He waved at two near each other, with snake motifs. Each of the other doors had their own school symbol. "These two are yours. I used to just use the initials, but now that there are so many I just put each persons name on it. If you want to visit someone's mind, just knock on it and see if they let you in."

As both girls went into Daphne's door, Harry took some deep breaths. Wrath stepped out from behind him, an amused look on his face. "Growing up so fast, my Master."

Harry sighed. "I don't know how old I am anymore Wrath. Time moves so fast in here, and I control my body, age, and such. I certainly don't THINK like a child... at least, not all the time."

Wrath nodded, handing Harry some tea in a small cup. "They are both attractive young ladies."

Harry rolled his eyes. "They are too young. So am I. Though I must admit, their magic is... beautiful." He sighed and started walking toward Daphne's door.


	38. Don't Mind Snakes, Who's Watching

Harry leaned back. Daphne was using her stone ropes to convert her mental world into a cave system, with carvings etched all over the walls containing her memories. It was soothing watching her move the runes like they were rubber ducks floating in a tub, dragging them across solid stone.

He had stayed near the door, of course. Until Daphne finished organizing and protecting her thoughts, he wouldn't dare move around. Privacy... privacy was important. Everyone had secrets.

Tracey on the other hand was following her around and trying to get her to blush. Thankfully the easiest topic to do that was also one that Tracey had a hard time talking about without turning into a tomato as well.

Daphne was REALLY glad Harry had stayed at the door. She had a feeling that somewhere in this cave was her memory of... well, a few minutes ago. Hours ago? Yeah.

She was going to keep that memory safe.

Tracey grinned as she poked Daphne and whispered. "Looking for a... recent memory?"

Wow. Red face indeed. Tracey leaned closer. "You know, we could both... watch each others memory of it."

Never mind, apparently the previous blush was just a test of the Emergency Blushing System. "TR.. Tracey, SHH!"

Tracey draped an arm around her friend and continued to whisper. "Didn't sound like a no to me, Daph."

Turns out that in your own mind, you can create pillows pretty easily.

Daphne stopped throwing them when all she could see of her friend was a hand from the massive, laughing pile.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was startled as he realized Daphne was throwing something... oh. "Hi Tracey."

She was wrapped up in a pillow case, tie with rope, with a gag on her mouth. "Harry, would you be so kind as to help Tracey find her way to her own mind? She seems a bit lost."

He grinned. "Of Course, M'Lady." With a wave of his hand, Tracey floated behind him, still squirming in her case. "Onward!"

Daphne gave a sigh of relief as she watched the two of them exit. As the door closed she began searching in earnest. Now where was that memory? When she found it... well, she would have to watch it to make sure it was the right one, of course. Just a few times. Her face had a bit of a naughty grin as she began searching the cave system.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry grinned as he pulled Tracey's mouth gag off. "So what did you do to push Daph that far?"

She grinned. "Told her what she wanted to do but didn't want to ask."

He blinked confused. Her smile had a bit of a... something in it. It made him feel... something.

She shrugged. "So here I am, tied up by ropes in a bag. I STILL say I was right from the beginning."

Harry tried to say SEVERAL things. Words were failing him... "You know, you seem to have a bit of a bondage thing going on."

She winked at him. "Not yet."

Harry's face went smooth, with slight blush. "Well, congratulations, you broke me. Now if you excuse me, I will drop you off at your door and go to sleep in an bathtub full of ice."

Tracey giggled as Harry gently opened her door and began moving through it. He grinned at her. "Joking aside, do you need any help or ideas? Or just company? I know I get pretty lonely in my head if I stay there too long."

He waved her bag open as she stretched. "Nah, I got a plan. Make it look like a mall near my house." She saw his expression and grinned. "Mom is a muggle, so my family knows about their world better than most wizards and witches."

Harry absently corrected. "Non-magical, please. Muggle seems... really, kind of offensive. Imagine if they called us hocus-ers or something."

She tilted her head before shrugging. "Sure, why not." She grinned. "I honestly got my idea from when you helped my core." With a focused expression... the pink fog moved away. The ground under them was sand... as far as he could see. Waves of clear blue water seeped up through the grains.

He looked around, the blue water had... a gem like sparkle to it. The sand was so warm, it was almost uncomfortable. He grinned. "Know what would make this better?"

Tracey smirked. "Topless sunbathing?"

Harry coughed, blushing. "Uh... well, yeah, probably. No, I meant this..."

Tracey smiled larger as four towering palm trees erupted from the sand, two giant hammocks hanging between them so anyone resting could watch the sea. "HARRY, this is BRILLIANT! I was going to do beach furniture, this is..." She wrapped him up in a hug. "Thanks, Harry."

He gave an embarrassed grin as he half hugged her back. "Anytime, Trace. I am just glad you two didn't punch me when everything got... uh."

She smirked. "Interesting?"

He gave a guilty grin. "Yeah. Anyway, I will just wait in the hammock, if you need any help or just want to take a break, let me know. I have Jim checking on Daphne, so if she should have any issues, he will let me know.

Her smile turned into confusion. "Jim?"

Harry blinked. "Oh, right, you two only met Wisdom." He went over to a hammock and began trying to get comfy. "Well, Jim is a great guy. Wrath has edges, but he is a part of me."

Tracey gave a look at the desert behind her. Harry's mental friends later, for now... She grinned. Sand Castle. Oh yeah.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry awoke with a jerk. Something... Daphne. Jim was giving a silent alert.

He got out of the hammock. "Tracey, I will be back in a moment, alright?"

A tiny voice from the top of a... VERY tall sand castle. More complicated than Hogwarts, it twisted and... oh his head. Sand was shaped in a way that was... just NOT possible. "...y, no problem"

Well... good.

Moving quickly, Harry retreated to his own mind directly before moving to Daphne's...

Her cave was full of dark eyed monsters.

Teeth were everywhere, many rotting or blood covered. Deeper inside the mine, he could FEEL someone... crying.

Harry's eyes darkened, leaving only an ember of green... but that ember was AFLAME. His body rippled, and he flexed each hand as the fingers sharpened. No big techniques, he was inside a mind after all.

Reaching the first creature, he waved a hand and created a reinforced glass bottle with a huge funnel on top. His other hand ripped into the darkness, pulled it snarling over the bottle... and SQUEEZED.

All the creatures paused as the thing... SCREAMED. Black ooze began flowing into the bottle, leaving a gray and weak corpse in his hand. Harry wasn't even looking at it, his eyes already looking at the next creature... and they were looking afraid.

They should be.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne was curled in a ball, feeling those teeth, those claws... they kept cutting into her, kept hurting. Over and over...

Suddenly there was screaming. The cutting paused, the creatures froze... and several began running toward the entrance of her mind. Daphne could barely pay attention, as she wrapped her arms around her torn body.

As the screaming got louder, somehow she felt... lighter. Less hurt. Less sad. As she was about to try and sit up, she stiffened as two arms reached around her... a hug. Warm. She leaned back into it, gripping those arms that wrapped her in warmth, crying.

She had uncovered the memory of her mother's death.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry didn't know what to do. He had extracted the emotion from the memories, dozens of them, and secured it pretty easily since it wasn't his own fear, sadness, hate, and loneliness... but here was Daphne, wrapped in a ball on the ground. Having handled so many of the memories, he didn't need to ask why.

Thinking of the years alone, he gave in and wrapped her in his arms. As he gripped her tightly, he could feel her tears soaking into his shirt, her sobs wracking her body, even as he used his threads to heal her wounds.

As he worked, he tried pushing out his emotions... his concern for her, his respect for having survived such an experience, his secret desire to have had a mother long enough to grieve for her death. He hugged her as she shook until she began falling asleep.

Lifting her gently, he used cords of power to gently float toward her door. Moving through his mind, Harry reentered Tracey's mind carrying the sleeping girl.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Tracey shook some sweat from her forehead. Somehow this sand castle had gotten... complicated. But what castle was complete without a moat? And archery range? And bowling alley? And taco bar? She frowned.

There were not enough taco bars.

Still, she could come back later. She had found some memories in the sand, sea shells. The nicest ones went in the treasure room, the sharp and bloody ones she put in the dungeon. The random pretty ones were decorations on the inside and outside of her Sandcropolis.

Maybe a break. She felt like she had been doing this... well, forever really. Or an hour. Long time, regardless.

As she slid down one of the south tower slides, she only screamed a LITTLE. Sand roller coasters, those had to be possible, right?

Most of her thoughts came to a stop when she reached the trees. Daphne was in a hammock, Harry was standing over her looking worried... and she had tear marks.

Before she could say anything, Harry noticed her and waved her over to the side. "Got a silent alarm from Jim that she needed help. Apparently while sorting her memories, she found some she had been repressing."

He unconsciously began wiping his hands as if it would help somehow. "They were literally hurting her, tearing her apart. I squeezed the emotion out of each memory and stored it separately, which should help a lot... but she was hurt. I brought her over as soon as she fell asleep."

Tracey gave a short nod. She felt like she could guess exactly what memory the poor girl was repressing. It had been a sad time for her family as well, since the Greengrass and Davis families were so close. It was back when she first started acting like the "Ice Queen".

Carefully moving toward Daphne, she looked at Harry and made some hand gestures. Getting the idea, the boy gently lifted Tracey into the hammock with the girl... who wrapped around Tracey like she was the last teddy bear on earth.

Harry stood a distance away, watching the waves. Behind him, he could hear two friends having a quiet but tearful conversation. He gave a sad smile... she was a lucky girl. If only there had been someone for Harry back then, before he had learned to do it all himself, before he had to fight darkness.

Still, it felt good to be someone else's support. Harry leaned against one of the other trees and relaxed.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne woke again, feeling the same terror for a moment... no. She was with Tracey, and Tracey was making it all right. Her eyes fluttered open, seeing the normally hyperactive girl snoring slightly, a little drool coming out of her mouth.

Oh. It had been a while since she had been in a hammock. It was strange that Tracey had found one, since her home was pretty far... uh. Ocean?

"Where the bloody hell ARE we!?"

Tracey squeaked and flailed, nearly flipping the hammock. Daphne frantically tried to balance herself, somehow getting caught in the strings and half pulling Tracey to her side, while she had one leg over here and an arm over THERE and...

Oh. "Good... Good morning Mr. Potter."

His upside-down, smiling face was trying REALLY hard to not laugh. "Pleasant day, Lady Greengrass. You may be pleased to know that you and I are currently guests of the great Queen Davis, ruler of Sandcropolis."

Dignity was shot anyway. She sighed. "Well, as long as you're here, could you please help me not be so... upside-down, or whatever we are right now?"

Harry waved a hand, lifting both Daphne and a LOUDLY grumbling queen. "Daph, next time I want to snuggle in a bed. Hammock's are just too dangerous."

Daphne's head jerked. "Snuggle?"

Harry rested a hand on her shoulder. "You bumped into some... harsh emotions while building. I thought you would rather recover here, even if the issue itself has been dealt with."

She leaned slightly into his hand, memories returning. In a small voice he could barely hear, she whispered. "Thank you for coming, Harry. I felt... so alone."

He wrapped her in another hug from behind, giving a soft whisper. "Whenever you need to, you can call me and I will help."

She squeezed his hand as she stood, watching Tracey try to straiten some sort of sand crown around her sand robes. "So... she's a sand queen?"

Harry grinned. "Nope."

Tracey looked up sharply. "I am too! Got a castle!"

Harry's grin expanded. "You are a sand witch."

Daphne groaned while Tracey got a huge smile. "Oh not you too, Harry. Please no puns."

Tracey waved a hand. "Ignore the commoner, Sir. Harry. She can't handle the pun-ishment."

Daphne followed a sand-armored Harry who was yelling something about the glory of small rocks, a small smile on her face. She recognized who's arms had helped her, when she was trapped in her own darkness... and she felt so safe knowing he would do it again for her.

Tracey leaned toward her Sand Knight. "Is it working?"

Harry leaned back. "Easily 12 percent smile, my queen."

Her regal nod had them back to bantering as they led the bemused girl through confusing sand streets and buildings.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was relaxing in a sand lounge chair when Daphne and Tracey came up and stood in his sun. Lazily looking up he raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Tracey leaned in. "Harry, how long have been here?" She looked concerned. "We can't be late for dinner, it could... there could be rumors and such."

Harry stretched and yawned. "Wrath, how long have we been in each others minds so far?"

Both girls gave a tiny scream seeing the tall skeletal man step out from behind Harry's chair. "Sir, it has been 12 minutes and 48 seconds since the three of you began your journey." He reached forward, handing Harry a hot cup of tea. Turning to the other two stunned children, he gave a smile. "Would Master's guests enjoy some tea as well? It is quite a fine blend, if I do say so."

Daphne, raised for society, gave a small nod. "If it would not be a bother, Mr. Wrath."

A dark chuckle made the two girls squirm a little. "Please Miss, just Wrath." Two fine crystal tea cups on golden saucers were placed on a sand table... where did the table come from?

Daphne took a cautious sip, not letting her hand shake... it soothed her, flowing through her like a breeze. "That was... this is amazing Wrath, thank you."

The man bowed and vanished. Tracey hesitantly took a sip... oh that was calming.

Harry chuckled. "He has known me longest, and has always supported me... but my favorite ability of his is the tea. I have actually been tasting raw tea leaves and different ingredients so he can make new blends in here."

Tracey seemed to have mentally recovered from seeing a skeletal man just... exist like that. "Did he say... 12 minutes?"

He shrugged. "Longer than that, almost 13 minutes. Time passes faster in here. Not as fast as in my world, thankfully... that place can get old."

He stood, gently moving his tired muscles. "Well, I have a project to complete. I have found a strong need to keep watch over all my friends now, so I need a new Aspect." He grinned at the girls. "Care to watch? It should be interesting. Not sure how advisable it is to do, really, but without Jim, Wisdom, and Wrath... well, life would be a little boring."

He walked towards his door as two interested girls followed. Tracey was thinking that having an actual army would make her sand castle awesome, while Daphne was imagining bats to keep her mind well documented and watched. She never wanted to be surprised like that again.

When they caught up, they saw Harry standing in a pit, one with a pile of orbs in the middle. Tracey poked Daphne, "Hey, are those ducks?"

Surrounding the pit filled with sand were a LOT of ducks. Some dressed like ninjas, some like burglars, and one with... a snail helmet? "Harry, one of your ducks has a snail on its head."

He nodded. "Hey Jim!"

"Quack."

Harry shrugged. "They are nice, you should give them a chance."

"Quack?"

Tracey and Daphne watched the boy turn red. "Look, for now we are just friends, Ok? Sheesh Jim, I am busy now."

Tracey grinned and nudged Daphne who rolled her eyes... with a small smile. Her friend waved at Jim, who gave a one winged salute.

Harry focused on the pile, but spoke over his shoulder. "So for this, I am creating an aspect to watch my networks, my friends, and my surroundings. Nothing else. It will be aware at all times, even when I am asleep or unconscious." He grimaced. "I may have to have Wrath take over if I am hurt or unconscious... that could cause issues."

He pointed at the pile. "These are copies of many of my memories and emotions. The fear of those I treasure being hurt, my determination to protect them from all harm, the times I used to watch families and wish I had one..." His voice faded slightly. "I find that including my painful and dear memories helps. I can cope better with the... the past." He gave a slightly sad smile at the two wide eyed girls.

Turning back to the pile, he raised both hands. "Now that we have the heart, we need the body. With Jim I got lucky, he evolved really to become what he is. This one though..."

From Harry's arms, his chest, his whole BODY came a BEAM of green light, SMASHING into the pile. Inside the glowing Tracey could hear... screams. Crying. Even some laughter, although not much.

Daphne didn't even realize she was crying until Tracey wiped away one of the tears. She could... just FEEL the emotions boiling in that light. It was horrifying.

Harry felt his body giving. He had decided to put almost everything in this one, since it would have the most important task... telling Harry who needed to be protected. Watching over his friends. Helping him protect. As he felt limbs cracking and his legs giving out, he desperately pushed in his desires, his inner NEED to hold his loved ones close and keep darkness away.

He felt the power stop as he collapsed forward into soft darkness.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne was not sure if she screamed, but she KNEW she was running toward Harry. He had fallen... collapsed, right as the light vanished. Tracey was just behind her as she scooped the boy into her arms, trying to not hurt him, trying to feel for his heartbeat...

"Harry will be fine. He has used a large amount of power to create me."

She paused.

Unlike Wisdom and Wrath, this man wore white. Pure white. He was Harry's height, but his skin was black. His head was bare, smooth, not a strand of hair... and his eyes were closed.

He smiled, his black teeth seeming odd to her. "Good afternoon, Lady Greengrass. My name is Watcher." His black had reached down, offering assistance.

She hesitated before gripping it, him lifting Daphne to her feet with ease. He waved a hand, lifting Harry and moving him to a chair. Turning to a bemused Wisdom, he gave a short bow. "Wonderful to meet you, Wisdom. You have done wonderful things with Harry."

She grinned back at him. "Not to cause a bother, but I think Harry may have made a bit of a mistake."

He tilted his head... "Oh, the eye thing. No worries. I don't have eyes because they would blind me." He smiled at her expression. Watcher leaned in. "Tell me, what do we use the most to sense our surroundings? I mean Harry in particular, not just people."

Seeing that Harry was just resting, Tracey cautiously raised a hand. Watcher turned to her with a smile. "Yes, Ms. Davis?"

She shrugged. "I assume it is magic, right? Since Harry did all this to track us better?"

He nodded. "I don't have eyes, because I am directly connected to Harry's magic. I am currently watching the red network, Hogwarts net, and his friend connections." He gave a grin to Daphne. "I will be able to let Harry know instantly if something starts to happen, or pass information to Wisdom to track and make conclusions from." He gave her a small nod. "So like he told you, he will always be there if you need him now."

Watcher headed for the base. "If anyone needs me, just say so and I will know it. In the mean time I will relax in the library. Always liked a good book." Reaching out, he patted Wrath's shoulder, enjoying everyone jumping who didn't notice the being appear. "Of course, I will keep you in the loop as well Wrath."

Wrath bowed to Watcher. "It would be appreciated, Watcher. My Master was quite fearful of missing such warnings before. I am looking forward to working with you."

Wisdom moved behind Harry, stroking his hair. "He works so hard... This will help him relax more. I'm glad he has someone else watching his back now."

Tracey looked at where Watcher had gone... "If it is that hard to make an assistant, I am not sure I can go through with it."

Daphne gave a small nod, as she checked on Harry. Yes, he felt fine, no fever, smooth breathing. The idea of anything happening to him had caused her heart to skip a beat.

Tracey looked around. "So... what should we do while waiting for him to wake up?"

Feeling a tug, she looked down... "Quack."

Tracey desperately looked up at Wisdom, who grinned. "He suggested you two also check out the library. I know Harry wouldn't mind, and there are lots of fun books he read for no real reason... in fact, I may have a few you may enjoy."

Giving a thankful sigh, Tracey knelt. "Thank you for the suggestion Jim. Could you lead the way?"

"Quack."

The girls followed the tiny duckling. Hesitant, Daphne leaned in. "Did... Does Jim have vampire teeth?"

Tracey patted her shoulder. "Just go with it, this is Harry's mind after all."


	39. Singing Stones

Sore.

His muscles... No, his magic. As if he had thrown a truck.

Harry stirred. He was in a chair... still in his mind. As he straightened, he saw a black glove hand holding tea out.

"Thank... Thank you Wrath." He took a deep breath... sea breezes, the smell of rain, that salty air. These teas may not be possible to brew in the real world, but they soothed something deep inside him.

Wrath straightened his clothing as he sipped. "The procedure was a success, Master. Watcher has taken duties and has worked out a system with Wisdom."

Harry sighed, feeling the tastes of salty wind and crisp weather as he relaxed into the chair. "Jim is fine with him taking over surveillance, right?" Slight worry was in his eyes as he looked toward the lake.

"Of course master. In fact, he seemed interested in building up the agent operations instead of working on the networks." Wrath noted the boy's slight relief and gave a small smile. "On that note, he mentioned that your guests are enjoying the miscellaneous section of your library at the moment."

Harry grinned and stood, absently handing over the empty tea cup as he moved toward the purple library. "Thanks to Hermione's copy spell, even I haven't read them all yet. Did a few rows in the fiction section of Hogwarts a while back."

Wrath followed silently as Harry carefully navigated his way to the others. The other aspects had been a bit concerned seeing exactly how MUCH the boy had invested in Watcher, but the stress relief was easy to see. Harry seemed lighter, less nervous, more self aware even here in his mind.

He suppressed a sigh. Wisdom hadn't found anything like the aspects in any of the Occlumency books they have scanned so far, so this whole concept could be a new area of magic. Still, Master would take care of them.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Daphne was REALLY going to have to come back here again. The books were fine and all, but the addicting stuff were the memories. Wisdom had shown the girls the humor and cute shelves (Unrestricted memories only, of course), and both girls were hooked.

Reading a nice book was fine, but being able to FEEL petting a puppy? Or going to a zoo?

She had a smile as she turned the page of the current memory, mostly focusing on baby turtles. Apparently Harry had spent a lot of time before coming to Hogwarts visiting zoos and watching something called "videos" about animals... and they were ADORABLE.

Feeling a sock covered foot tapping her side she looked up to see Tracey trying to shove something in her face.

"Look! He has a memory of muggles FLYING!"

Daphne blinked. "Like on a broom? How did they avoid the ministry?"

Tracey shook her head as she pointed. "They have these big metal flying carpets, but they cover you up completely so no wind and stuff." She turned the book back and kept turning pages. "He has a section where he went to a museum and they talked about how it works... but I can't follow it. I don't think it was done with magic though, something about really powerful wind creation machines and stuff."

Daphne shrugged. "I got a book about baby turtles."

A squeal later and Wisdom giggled, carrying the science book back to the shelf as the two girls began arguing about which turtles were cuter.

"If you like the turtles, you should come back some time and visit Padma's world."

Daphne gave a small jerk and tried to look as refined as possible. Well, as much as one could when another girl is draped over you and looking at baby animals. "Ha... Harry. Glad that you are back on your feet."

Tracey on the other hand was more energetic. "HARRY!"

He grinned even as she gave him a slightly too strong hug. "Careful, I need those lungs. Did you two find anything interesting, or was it all animals?"

Daphne made some space on the couch and he sat near, Tracey running to get another book. "I admit, I stayed mostly in the cute section."

Harry grinned. "So you should probably know that Padma's inner world is like 80% baby animals. A good chunk of my cute section actually comes from her now thanks to that."

Tracey was bouncing on her feet, two books about zoo trips nearly forgotten. "When can we go? Now? We did the linking thing, so now is fine, right?"

He shrugged. "Anytime you want to visit, knock on your inner world door and I will let you into my world." He then waved a hand roughly in the direction of those doors. "At that point, knock on hers. When you connect to me, I will take over the connection so you don't tire out. Same for her, if she accepts contact."

Tracey looked a bit put out. "But... how do we connect to our inner worlds without your help?"

Harry pointed. "Connect one of your ropes to your mind and you're done. The more you do it, the longer you can stay in your mind and the longer time stretches here."

He sighed and wiggled deeper into the couch, leg barely pressed against Daphne's foot. "However, I think we may have to wrap this all up soon. I didn't expect for this to take so long or to have such... strong reactions."

The three carefully looked at various parts of the walls as they blushed. Tracey had a devious grin though. "So... Hermione and the 'others' suggested us?"

Harry gave a nod.

"Did they expect the level of... reaction?"

He shook his head.

"I think this deserves a girl night." Tracey nodded, ignoring Daphne trying to hide her face in her hands. "Yep, a whole night of gossip... which will be SO MUCH easier since we don't have to leave our beds for this."

Harry shrugged, trying to keep himself sounding indifferent. "As far as I know there is no limit yet on distance, so you should be able to talk from anywhere in the castle." He gave a bit of a sigh. "If you just want to talk and not meet up, just mentally call for Watcher. He can hook up the ropes and you won't have to worry about me overhearing."

Daphne gave him an odd look. "But... he is you, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but I won't tell me, so I shouldn't know what I heard. Wisdom will keep me honest."

She rubbed her eyebrows. "I... I know that logic is wrong somehow. But whatever."

Harry reached out and accepted a book about the impossible (But theoretical) flight patterns of door mice (Third edition) from Wisdom. "Well, let me rest for a bit before we go. I have an appointment at Gringotts later today that I had to go through a lot of hoops to get approved, and I need to get ready for it."

Tracey squeezed in on Harry's other side, now having two books about squirrels and one about baby hippos. "Getting some gold for something? Or is it family business stuff?"

Harry turned a page. "Well, I wanted to build up some funds for later. I figured I would make some quick coin and set up some sort of home for Goran. You know, something safer than a school. Well, safer than THIS school."

Daphne pulled both feet up, subconsciously warming them under Harry's leg. "Well, a bunch of trolls is only dangerous to us. Well, some of us. Still pretty safe for him, isn't it?"

He frowned. "The creatures don't bother me. Animals have instincts and follow them, but humans have stranger motivations. I don't want Goran to be hurt because of political games."

Tracey had a thoughtful look. "Good point. He is a... controversial character. I can see someone trying to use him to push the public one way or the other."

Harry absently nodded, feeling warm on both sides. "Going to have to buy some public relations capital soon as well. Public Opinion is... fickle."

Daphne gave an approving smile. "That's it, show your Slythern side more. A little cunning goes a long way."

A deep voice, like a monk praying over a mountain, echoed.

"Rinpoche, you have a friend entering the Merp 2 Room. Miss Granger will likely wish to meet you and your guests."

Harry looked up. "Rinpoche?"

"It means 'Precious One', my Rinpoche. Now, don't leave your friend waiting."

Tracey giggled slightly at Harry's shocked expression. "Harry, you know a word that you don't know?"

He sighed and gave a shrug. "Well, sometimes I surprise myself I guess. Still, there are worse things I could call myself."

Daphne stood. "Well, my head hurts. How do we leave?"

Harry stood as well, dropping the book he barely opened into Wisdom's arms. "Take a deep breath, and as you let it out try to relax and let go of everything. I will give a gentle nudge, and it should take us out of our connection, back to your minds, and then awake all at once."

Tracey looked at her books, hesitating. Harry grinned. "They will be here when you come back, Trace. Wisdom won't forget them. Ready?"

As they nodded, he gently pushed.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Tracey realized that at some point, she had leaned against Daphne... and maybe a TINY amount of drool. Daphne on the other hand still felt slightly off. As she looked at Tracey, she started to say...

WARMTH. All the feelings from earlier swept through her like a warm wave on the sand, warm fingers that trailed up her limbs. Even as she shivered she saw Tracey's expression go a bit blank for a second, her shoulders shaking slightly.

Harry gave a rough cough. "So... uh. Apparently there were some delays between the mental feelings and the... uh. Yeah." PLEASE Hermione, come take the awkward away.

"Harry, were you able to meet up... Oh, here you are." Hermione grinned reached the bottom stair and she sat on a near chair. "So, any problems setting up your ropes?"

Tracey gave her a look that still had a bit of something in it. "Define problem."

Harry stood and began moving to the stairs. "Well, I am sure everyone has this handled and I got to get some stuff done so I will talk to you later Herms have a good one oh look at the time well I am really glad we all caught up and I will see you later Tracey and Daphne knock if you need anything BYE!"

She turned a stunned look at the vanished wizard. "Uh. He was in a bit of a rush."

Tracey grinned. "Took his time when he needed to though."

Daphne threw the closest pillow she could.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry moved with purpose through the corridors, heading to the Headmaster's Office. The fact that this put distance between him and those two was just a lucky coincidence.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to take deep breaths. Feeling all those emotions and stuff from TWO witches had been... wow. Not bad, but WOW embarrassing. Cold shower? Maybe. Exercise was his friend.

He reached a stone gargoyle and waved a hand, pulling the magic that confirmed to the runes that a correct password had been given. Not that Harry KNEW the password, but as long as the magic thought he did then who cared.

As he reached the top of the stair he saw Professor Flitwick, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, and someone in a giant pumpkin costume.

Harry just... paused.

Minerva seemed to have this in hand. "Albus, honestly, you can't keep trick or treating."

Innocent pumpkin eyes glittered. "Ah, but no one will suspect a SURPRISED trick or treat. That is the trick part, you see."

Filius seemed willing to give it a shot. "Ah, but you can't preemptively trick someone, what if they give you a treat?"

The stem turned toward the small teacher and held open a bag. "Then I give them a chance at one of my fine oranges."

There was a slight pause from everyone, including the unintended witness.

Minerva seemed confused. "What happened to the watermelons?"

The disappointed gourd shook his rind. "Minerva, Professor Quirrell was having post traumatic incidents after the melon episode. The meeting, remember?"

Filius raised a point. "We got it out of him eventually. Still not sure how that happened, really."

Harry tried to pull the world together. "Professors? I had a meeting scheduled for me to visit Gringotts?"

Minerva nearly had a heart attack as she spun to the door. "Mr. Potter, how... how long were you there?"

The large orange thing beside her patted her shoulder with a leaf. "Now now, the wee squashes need a cautious touch. I assume he wanted an orange."

Harry gave up. "Sure, actually." He reached into the offered bag... huh. "Sir, this bag is full of cabbages."

Albus the pumpkin waved it off. "Life sometimes gives you a cabbage. Now, off you trot."

He turned a desperate eye to Professor McGonagall. "May I go now? Are we done here?"

Flitwick gave a chuckle and led the boy to a fireplace. "Yes, we can go. Now, have you tried Floo travel yet?"

Harry tuned out the ongoing argument between a teacher and a pumpkin behind him. "No sir, but I read a bit about it while researching wizarding travel methods. Something to do with voice given destinations?"

The smaller teacher nodded. "There are lots of small networks of Floo systems, connected to major hubs like the Leaky Cauldron and such. It prevents duplicate addresses really, and adds security. For example, you can Floo from any fireplace in the castle to another one, but only the Headmaster's connects outside the castle."

Seeing Harry's expression, the teacher picked up some strange powder. "Now, the procedure is simple. Grab a handful of powder, throw it in the flames, then clearly call 'The Leaky Cauldron' and step in." He motioned Harry closer. "It spins you around a bit, but my advice is to not stop, but keep walking as if there is no back to the fireplace. Otherwise you will sorta fly out like a bag of gold."

Harry gave a nervous grin. "So... what chance is there that I will catch on fire doing this?"

Flitwick shrugged. "Well, there is a permanent flame freeze rune in the fireplace, so you can't cook on it since it makes no heat. That is why many wizarding homes used to have several fireplaces; one for cooking and so forth, the other for travel."

He flung the powder into the flames. "The Leaky Cauldron!"

As the smaller teacher stepped into the flames, Harry focused closely. The man's core was wrapped up into a ball, then pulled through the fire somewhere... That could be neat. Picking up a handful of the odd silvery powder, he yelled the phrase and stepped in.

PULLING. His world twisted, over and under.

'You are passing multiple exits, being pulled by a thread toward what is likely your destination. You should close your eyes, Rinpoche.'

Harry closed his eyes as Watcher made a mental map of the colors swirling around him, faster and faster...

He was LAUNCHED into his smaller professor. "WELL! I see the Floo was quite an adventure for you, Mr. ..."

"Shh..." Harry quieted his teacher. "Call me Harry Dursley, please. Popularity is not as wonderful as the some would tell you." The boy looked up at his now grinning teacher/landing pad. "Besides, I think I really damaged my dignity on that fall."

"Ah, so nothing too valuable then. Onward to Gringotts?"

Harry smiled, looking forward to seeing Nagnok again. "Why of course, Professor. Lead onwards I say."

~~~Core Threads~~~

The bank was much less crowded than before, which Harry was grateful for. More than a few wizards and witches were still filling the lines of course, but several clerks were clearly working on books waiting for more customers.

Harry led the way to one of the closer lines. As they reached the front, he gave a nod to the slightly bored looking goblin, writing diligently in a thick tomb. "Good day Master Clerk, I would like to meet with Potter Family Manager Nagnok."

The goblin paused his quill, looking up. Seeing the boy, he gave a toothy grin. "Of course, Lord Potter. Please, follow me to his office."

With a slightly malicious grin he put up a closed sign, making the wizard behind Harry groan. Professor Flitwick watched as the boy followed the armed clerk through the bank.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry gave a slightly relieved smile when he saw Nagnok. Master Clerk Grather was pleasant enough as he guided Harry through the twists in the cave, but seeing a familiar face put him at ease.

Nagnok also had a grin as he stood. "Lord Potter, a pleasant surprise to see you again. I received many compliments and set up a few new deals using the prototype brooms you set up Hogwarts with. Potter Brooms may become a new brand if we market them well."

Harry offered a hand, which Nagnok shook after a bit of a pause. "Please Nagnok, Harry. After you helped me through the Goran situation it seems silly to stand on ceremony."

Nagnok seemed to relax somehow, leaning into the desk. "Well, your son made a few waves indeed. And I must admit, Gringotts percentage of those transactions put my clan in even better standing than usual that day."

The goblin saw the boy began to give an almost hungry grin. "Well, I am here to day to attempt and make a hefty profit indeed. Your clan will sing if I can pull this off."

"Profit? Are you sure your a wizard, Harry?"

He grinned. "I'm ugly enough for one, eh? Now, tell me about magical uses for gems. Especially focuses or rituals that require specific high quality ones."

Nagnok stumbled slightly at the topic change before opening some drawers in his desk, tapping several runes. Within moments, two goblins entered, one holding a stone briefcase and the other a fairly large book.

Waving the two assistants away, Nagnok opened the case. "There are several grades of gems of course. Highest quality is required for many rituals as a raw ingredient." His claw delicately waved over an emerald, dull, unprocessed. "Much more expensive are the flawless ones like this, of course. If you find one of high enough quality, you can get it shaped into several designs for various magical projects. Each shape has a certain level of power, but the more complicated ones are MUCH harder to craft and even the slightest flaw destroys the stone completely."

As he tapped the emerald, a shelf unfolded showing a row of stones. The first was just polished, the second was a rough triangle, then square, and so forth. The final one he barely waved a claw over... a seven sided star on top of a seven sided star, overlapping yet connected. Harry almost stopped breathing, seeing the beauty glitter before him.

"This one alone, the double seven star, is the most powerful magical form for a gem. Any craft that utilizes one instead of the lower and easier forms will have to add supports to prevent damage during construction, but once magic is included on the surface this double seven star will actually reinforce itself." He grinned at the stunned human. "Indeed, after enchantment this gem could crush stone without damage... but getting to that point could take thousands of attempts, using only flawless emeralds or rubies. The high failure rate and cost is why so few stones are ever crafted."

Nagnok almost gently tapped the parent stone, causing the shelf to close. "That single stone, the double seven star emerald, is worth over fifty thousand galleons on it's own, no finishing." He gently pressed the last shelf. "Finally, after the shape is created it can have magical runes of enhancement etched into the surface using silver, one of the finer conductors of magic and heat."

Harry caught his breath. The final shelf only held four sided gems, but each one had silver lines outlining them. As his eyes focused on the lines he could barely see the tiny runes written, so small it almost seemed like a straight line, flowing like an outline around the edge.

"The runes... they repeat?"

Nagnok, nodded. "Indeed. There are three. Magic enhancement, Heat dissipation, and durability. The smaller the runes, the more can fit on the stone and the more valuable the stone becomes." He waved over the examples. "As you see, using normal sight you can barely determine the difference between the lowest to highest quality."

"Why only box shapes?"

"They are called power squares, actually. These runes can be added on more advanced shapes, but even ONE mistake and the stone shatters. A bad rune means a destroyed stone." He shook his head. "The value of the higher shapes with runes are... well, near amazing. I am not sure we could sell them without months of convincing people that they are real."

Harry leaned back, deep in thought. When he looked at Nagnok, the goblin was almost startled by the look in his eyes.

"What is the most powerful magical stone to work with? Ruby? Emerald?"

"Diamond, mostly. Some specific enchantments work better with other stones that represent elements, but Diamond works with everything really."

He grinned. "Now, how much for a whole lot of flawed diamonds and a few bars of silver?"

Harry could SEE Nagnok's mental gears turn. As the goblin realized that Harry was serious, he began quickly making notes and moving assistants around.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry, Nagnok, and a Goblin Jeweler were in a larger cave now. The Jeweler was refusing to give his name, claiming Humans had no right to such a privilege.

Considering how few people ever MET a Jeweler, Harry found himself agreeing.

Before them was a large trough, one filled with flawed diamonds. Uncut, some damaged from attempts of crafting. Next to the trough was a table, several bars of silver stacked.

And in front of Harry was a tall jeweler's table, with a solid black cushion brightly lit by an enchanted light source.

The Jeweler was carefully holding a small enchanted stone box. "Nagnok, you are using up almost all your favors for this moment, for this... HUMAN of all things. Are you sure of this?"

Nagnok took a deep breath. He clan had held this particular debt for generations... but profit favored the bold. "Indeed, Master Jeweler. No damage will occur, on my honor."

Harry nodded, unaware of just how monumental such a statement was. "Simply place the double seven star ruby here." He tapped the closer left hand side of the table. "Then the emerald power square here." He tapped further up. This should work.

The Jeweler gave a slight growl. "These are the finest of my craft, human. I may never be able to craft gems of this quality again in my life. I may even bury myself with them."

Nagnok was shocked. The life gems, as they were called, were gems that the crafter felt represented his life work. This debt would be paid in full indeed.

Harry didn't move as claws gently laid both beauties on the cushion, leaving the right side free. After the Jeweler backed away, he gently raised his left hand, hovering it over the double seven star. His right hovered over the black cloth.

The cave felt fuller. Nagnok suddenly could feel the heat of his mothers furnace as she crafted metalwork late into the evening, turning the coin earned by his father into beautiful creations that no other would see, to be passed down through the generations. He could smell fresh ore, melting softly into a glow. There was a soft echo of hammers, striking.

The Jeweler could somehow feel... a crisp shard of stone, a gem, one he had spent a month just touching, preparing for the first cut, the most critical. The thrill of a perfect strike, the joy of that shudder that somehow meant another chip had perfectly carved his treasure free from all that debris. He could hear the soft clink of a stone being placed on display, showing his pride to the world. The soft gasp of his wife seeing his finest work.

Harry could see stars. His left hand bathed the stone, and his magic was singing, DANCING. Each edge kissed his fingers, somehow pulling him to the next tip, pulling his mind and heart into a search.

His eyes began to shine, emerald light bathed both hands as he somehow reached into the diamond's heart, feeling the stone itself as it was humming, so happy to be carved into such a shape, so joyful. The ruby was a child of fire, dancing through flames, through stars... each glittering in the distance.

As he felt the joy flowing in his arm, his right arm felt stinging, tingly. Cords of power dove into the flawed diamonds, and he could feel a CHORUS of songs, many off key or sad or angry. Harry gently flexed his right hand, as if offering a child to dance. Slowly, the songs of the diamond shards began to notice him, to ask for help... they wanted to dance, they wanted to sing.

Nagnok's breath caught as he saw a lump shining under Harry's fingers. The light seemed so bright.

Without moving his right hand, Harry moved his left gently forwards, hovering over the square emerald...

This was a simple song, compared to the complicated dancing and singing of the ruby. But in that song was a harmony, an orchestra of joy, of happiness... violins, cellos, harps, something. Something deep and moving, but forever and moving.

The silver reached for Harry's right hand, flowing like a ribbon through the air. Under his hand, he could feel the world holding hands and trying to make everyone else laugh.

As the silver stopped flowing, Harry carefully pulled his hands away... and collapsed into his chair.

Nagnok and The Jeweler were staring at a glowing double seven star diamond, etched with silver... and it seemed to sing.

Nagnok was shocked out of his thoughts hearing someone drop something in the distance. Realizing Harry had fainted, he carefully pulled the chair farther away from the masterpiece, and checked... yes, he was fine. Turning to The Jeweler, he quietly touched his arm. "Could you... verify this? That this is what it looks like?"

The goblin was pulled from a happy memory. Quickly catching up, he gently put his life work into his private container. "I... I am not sure I... But I want to. I feel the need to examine it."

"Feel free, Master Jeweler." Harry weakly smiled at the two shocked goblins. "I have never felt something like that. I always heard a bit of song when working with gold, but I have never created Diamond before. Please, examine."

Like a mother just holding her new child, the ancient goblin gently touched the masterpiece. As he examined it by touch, sight, and emotion, Harry struggled to sit up. "I think I will have to wait to make more of those. The double seven star thing wasn't so bad, but activating the runes took a lot out of me."

Nagnok and the Jeweler both froze and stared at Harry. "You... you activated the runes?"

He gave them an odd look. "Of course. Why not?"

Nagnok coughed slightly. "It normally takes four goblins a day to activate each one. Since this one has at least a hundred, it is part of the reason they are so expensive." He looked at the shocked Jeweler. "The stone you made alone was worth maybe 10% of your current account. With the runes left without power, that moved the value up to 22% of your current account. Now, it is easily worth 41% of your account. Easily."

Harry blinked. "So... I should make more of the rune etched stones then? Without powering them?"

The Jeweler seemed to have caught up. "What is your name, Human?"

"Uh... Harry Potter."

"Lord Potter, You make me an etched diamond like that without power, and I will pledge my clan's loyalty to your family account."

Nagnok caught his breath.

Harry gave a small smile. "May I have your name, Master Jeweler?"

"Bogrod, Master Jeweler."

Harry held out a hand. "I would be honored to do all future gem work with your clan in the future if these are examples of your best works. I am sure any future family I may have would be proud to do the same. Your work sings with joy."

Nagnok watched in awe as two creatures shook hands as equals.

~~~Core Threads~~~

"Bogrod, you are a slave driver." Harry slumped in a chair, ignoring the cackling goblin moving another trough of rough diamonds near the almost depleted silver.

"Now now, Lord Potter. A good day's work is worth the gold, is it not?" Apparently after receiving TWO double seven star gems with runes, Bogrod was near destruction with joy.

Nagnok was lifting another single seven star diamond, etched, into a protective case. After the first few he had urged Harry to make more variety to not saturate the market. Not that he would allow that of course, manipulating supply was an art form for any goblin.

More variety meant more markets, more sales, and faster coin. And at this rate, Harry was on track to quintuple his accounts... and only if he DIDN'T sell that charged star.

Harry sighed, moving his hand over the cushion. The repetitive practice HAD helped him speed up the process, it was now MUCH easier to do this. After a few more diamonds finished he stood and stretched.

"Sorry Bogrod, but I have to get some more stuff done. I will try to schedule us time to do this again later." Harry looked at Nagnok. "Also, if either of your clans wish to be the only ones that create using these stones, let me know. I am sure Nagnok can help us set up some sort of exclusivity deal or something."

Nagnok paused, coins flying in his mind. The idea of being the only one with such EASY access to such quality stones... they would sing songs of him. Bogrod had actually paused, wide eyed, at the concept. He looked back at Nagnok, who gave a short nod.

Looks like Nagnok just earned some debts from the Jeweler clan... and that they would be eager to BE in that debt.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Flitwick was trying to be patient. He had been contacted a few hours ago that the Potter Manager had an unexpected emergency and had required more time to complete business... not that it mattered.

One did not rush Goblins, and Filius more than ANYONE knew this.

Finally, he saw green eyes and a mop of black hair heading his way. "All your business done, Mr. Po... Dursley?"

Harry grinned. "Yep! I will have to come back some time though."

Flitwick gave a respectful bow to the guard as they headed out of the bank. "Anything interesting happen?"

The boy's smile seemed pretty big. "Made some new friends." He seemed to pause slightly. "Professor Flitwick, what does it mean for a goblin to pledge clan loyalty to an account?"

The teacher nearly hit the ground tripping. "WHAT!"

Harry seemed a bit off put at the reaction. "I... Well, what does it mean exactly? To pledge loyalty to a family account?"

Filius moved his mouth a few times. "Uh. Well, their clan will actively try to give your account the best deals possible with minimum profit, like you were close family. I think they offer rare finds to your account first, and will go above and beyond to accommodate any needs by you or your family."

The teacher seemed dazed. "There hasn't been a loyalty pledge in over 300 years, as far as I know. It was to the Flax family, by a warding clan."

Harry nodded. "Well, that explains why Nagnok was so happy about me accepting that pledge from Bogrod."

Professor Flitwick went white. "Bog... Not Bogrod, Master Jeweler?"

The boy looked surprised. "Oh, you met him?"

"No one meets him. He is like Merlin, but with stones and gems. My father told me stories of his crafts."

Harry looked... well, at least slightly out of it. "Oh. Well... good." He looked around. "Want ice cream? My treat?"

Filius just followed. Next time, Minerva could take Harry. His heart couldn't take this.


	40. Impatient Evil

The next few weeks moved pretty smoothly. Eventually Gringotts had to give Harry a port key, which was ANOTHER uncomfortable method of wizarding travel... like a merry-go-round that wasn't marry, went thousands of miles per hour, and connected to your bellybutton.

Apparently the teachers were just not enjoying the trips with him at this point.

Still his accounts were doing much better after the first few diamond trips. Harry even traded some finished stones for some rare materials to look at later in the summer.

After a few trips, he decided to save time and began creating blocks of pure diamond and other gems and added them to his hand storage, along with several bars of gold, silver, and copper. He was still debating about what other materials should be stored in his hand, but for now it felt good not having to constantly work with troughs of raw material.

Apparently the Jeweler clan was VERY interested in the bars of Diamond as well.

The Potter Account was doing well this year.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Quirrell was pacing in his office. Christmas break was getting closer, yet his goal seemed just as distant as it did months ago.

He tightened the cloth around his head, as if to hold back the darkness inside. This was all going wrong... so wrong. By now he was supposed to be FREE of this bloody... uh. Merciful master. Right.

He could feel the damage building in his body. Possession was never healthy for the host in the first place, WITHOUT being punished. But how was HE to know an 11 year old would take out three trolls and adopt the fourth?

That just shouldn't happen.

Looking at the flask, his shaking hand tried to convince him to just wait longer. Unicorn blood, forcibly taken.

But once taken, his life would pretty much be gone. Never to taste, smell, or feel again. The Dark Lord promised that with the stone, he could fix all those issues, that his faithful servant would be made powerful. But then again, the Dark Lord wasn't the one drinking it.

Right now the shuddering teacher was debating if death was worse than that kind of half life.

Aside from that damn child, there was still the Cerberus to consider. Three heads, the size of a small hut... and magically resistant to most weaker spells. Anything strong enough to get past him would also alert the castle and destroy any second attempts at the stone.

His eyes narrowed as he resolutely put the flask down. The subtle approach had failed, the 'Throw monsters' approach had REALLY backfired, and Quirrell was going to use this rare moment of sanity.

That damn stone would be his TONIGHT. That daft old headmaster was probably too far gone to know what was going on anyway.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was bent over scrap paper, designing plans for the new Potter home. Any existing property was probably known by people, especially since he had become a celebrity when his parents... yeah. So a new place would be easier to hide with either a full or partial Fidelius Charm.

He didn't need to hide it physically in another reality, so there was also no reason to mark it... just the knowledge field would do for this. The runes for carving were listed in one of the older texts, and it only took a little modification to not need the extra parts.

Slap on several overly developed local magic absorption runes to power it, and the runes would hopefully prevent the area from even FEELING magical unless really close. Well, it would also make the ward spells impressively strong as well, but that was just a lucky side benefit.

Right now he was trying to determine the best version of avoidance runes. He wanted everything kept out unless approved by either Harry himself or one of his chosen people. That exclusion list would need to include wizards, trolls, imps, gnomes, elves, non-magicals, random animals, etc.

Unfortunately this seemed to require a fairly complex identifying ward, one that mapped magical signatures to an approved internal list. Harry had simplified it by removing the bloodline check section, although he had been forced to create a designated chain to determine who gained access to the wards upon his death.

Having a list was much simpler then verifying the genetics of anyone walking along, really. The runes required were much simpler as well.

Maybe he could create ward stones like he did those gems. Or use an overly large diamond AS the ward stone, that probably hadn't been done before. In fact, what if...

'Rinpoche, someone has just caused an explosion in the castle. It was near the forbidden corridor.'

Harry dropped the notes. Some part of him had felt the troll incident had been a beginning, not just an incident. 'Connect the group.'

'Done, Rinpoche.'

'Attention, this is not a drill. An explosion has occurred near the forbidden corridor. I need volunteers to contact teachers.'

'Harry, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall have been called to the Ministry only a few minutes ago.' Hermione's thoughts felt rushed. 'I was asking questions about an assignment when the owl arrived.'

'I will inform Professor Snape.' Daphne felt that rush again.

'Be careful Daphne, and only mention the explosion. That man does not like me.'

Harry could practically FEEL her eyes roll. 'Got it, Potter.'

He took a deep breath. 'Well, I am heading down there. Everyone, keep people away from there if possible.'

Padma's concern was evident. 'HARRY, you are NOT going alone!'

Susan was quick to follow. 'I just finished a note for my Aunt and I am on the way to the Owlery. PLEASE wait for backup.'

Harry started tapping a foot... and paused, taking a deep breath. 'Sorry, got caught up in the moment. I will wait near the door and make sure no one escapes with whatever is hidden in there. In fact maybe the explosion is what the instant death thing was about. Anyone close to the Hospital Wing?'

Terry could be felt moving. 'I was already heading that way, I will inform Madam Pomfrey. She should know if exploding was expected, right?'

Hannah giggled. 'Explosions should ALWAYS be expected.'

Harry found the thread nearest to that forbidden door and PULLED. As he felt his body shifting, he wrapped his limbs in ropes, coating his skin in a layer of green power... an he was there. He gave a small grin. Apparently shifting was painless if you used enough power.

His face turned into a frown as he got closer to the door. Thankfully there was no blood, or pile of splinters... at least not out here. He slowly moved toward the open door, listening for movement.

His heart nearly stopped. There was something REALLY hurt behind that half open door. He could hear something gurgling... something HUGE.

He gently moved the door open... a large pile of fur, a pool of blood... it was a three headed dog.

Well, now a one headed, heavily wounded dog.

Harry felt a rush of horror. It was so hurt. The left two heads were limp and hanging at odd angles, barely wiggling, and it's left side was... it looked like raw meat. Without realizing it he was cradling the last head even as he felt the body slowing. A large red eye opened and tried to whine for some comfort, some peace.

He reached. His magic flowed into the creature, bending... no. It was too much. Harry could feel individual organs had already died, and trying to fill it with magic would cause enough pain to probably kill it. Tears on his cheeks, Harry reached and rested his hand on the creatures remaining head. What could he do?

'Rinpoche, Wisdom has an idea.'

Harry pulled partially into his own mind, ignoring the world slowing around him. As his focus turned inward he looked demandingly at the black librarian. "What can we do?"

She handed over two memories. "There is a spell that is used to create animated portraits. If we modify it, we can take the mind entirely instead of copying it. He won't have a physical body anymore."

He paused. "Is... is this better than death?"

Wisdom hesitated. "I... I am not sure. Maybe not. We have never tested this before, and I am not sure the consequences."

From behind the boy, a skeletal hand pressed into his shoulder. "Master, death can come at any time. But this could help prevent pain. Two of the creatures heads have already passed on, and the last is alone."

Harry sighed, leaning slightly into Wrath's hand. "Can we release him? Is this permanent?"

Wisdom shook her head. "It can be released at any time you wish, Harry."

The boy looked into the poor animal's eyes. They were fading from an angry red into a hazel brown, and the pain... it looked so sad. Lost. Alone.

Feeling the guidance from Wisdom, Harry lifted his hand and began making quick movements with his fingers, layering ribbons and threads of magic in his palm. As he finished, he gently pressed against the creature's forehead.

It was much less than Goran or Hedwig. It felt like something sad and alone had somehow been picked up out of the rain and cuddled. Harry watched as those brown eyes dulled and faded, as the body stilled. Inside his magic, he felt... something. moving. He followed it as it reached his mind...

'Ewww... slobber.'

Harry's face had a smile through his tears. 'I assume he made it then?'

'Wrath, you need to... STOP. Euch, gross. It only has one head in here, but it seems to generate three heads of slobber.'

'I will take care of him, Master.'

Harry gave a small nod. 'Thank you Wrath. Let me know if either of you need... anything.'

He could feel Watcher somehow wiping his bald head free of slimy goo. 'Great idea, Rinpoche. In fact, feel free to move him to your place Wrath.'

Harry stood, wondering why his hand was shivering. He looked at his left... oh. It was turning skeletal. "Wrath... we need to wait. We need backup."

'I am trying Master.'

The room was getting colder as Harry's arm began to shake slower. Harry sighed slightly. 'Reconnect me Watcher.'

'Done.'

Harry gently held down his other arm. 'I have examined the room in the corridor. There are the remains of a Cerberus. I was unable to save most of him.' He looked around. 'There is an open trap door. Any updates on assistance?'

Daphne was in a huff. 'Professor jackass threated to take away points from me and kicked me out.'

Hermione sounded winded. 'Professor Flitwick is on his way, estimated time around 3 min or less.'

Susan kicked the stone guardian. 'I can't get into the Headmaster's office to try and direct Floo.'

Harry waved a hand. 'Try now.'

Susan quickly moved past the gargoyle. 'Thanks Harry, however you did that. I would guess it should take about 8 minutes or so for help.'

'Madam Pomfrey says there shouldn't be ANYTHING explosive up there, but we are on the way.' Terry sounded winded.

Harry realized his left eye was starting to twitch. 'Guys, I am not sure how much longer I can stay out of this. This... person, or these people killed an animal and left it to slowly die alone.'

Padma's concern was welcome. 'How bad is it? Can you wait just a few more minutes?'

Wrath interrupted. 'There are five minutes. Beyond that, and we act.'

Everyone paused as the cold voice echoed. Harry coughed. 'Sorry, he likes animals too. I am honestly behind him on this one.' He gave a hesitant shrug. 'If it helps, I will try to not kill whoever did this.'

Everyone tried to move faster. Surrounded by the blood of a dead dog, one who had almost died alone and afraid, a young boy began to shake with rage.

He hoped they moved fast enough.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry could feel Wisdom sigh in relief as he saw an armed Professor Flitwick arrive.

Flitwick on the other hand froze. In front of him was... anger. Surrounded by the bloody room, furry meat behind him, was pure rage. One eye was just an ember of green light, his hands looked almost like claws.

The room itself was almost breathing in rage.

Harry seemed to focus on the teacher. Thankfully his eye, his whole nature seemed to relax slightly. "I am willing to follow commands, but I will be coming as backup."

It was not a request, and feeling the power from the child Filius couldn't really argue at the moment. He gave a sharp nod, turning to Hermione who seemed frozen by the door. "Hermione, please return to your House common room. Harry will be right up soon I am sure."

She seemed frozen until Harry looked into her eyes. Suddenly she relaxed slightly and nodded. "Yes Professor. Be careful Harry."

The boy nodded, and she left to the halls. Turning toward Flitwick, he waved a hand. The room began to clean itself around him, like a wave or an expanding bubble. Behind him the poor creatures body began to repair itself. Without looking behind him, he stood to attention. "Professor, I am prepared to continue. Please lead on."

Filius looked around. This was power... but no. "I am sorry, Mr. Potter. I appreciate how you must feel right now, but you are still one of my house. I am responsible for your safety. You may wait for my return here, but I must go alone."

The boy tensed. "Do you not believe in my abilities?"

The teacher sighed. "If I was the kind of man who would take children into danger, I couldn't respect myself. I am a professional, Mr. Potter. A Professional Dueler, no less. Do you not believe in MY abilities?"

His teeth clenched, before he looked down, hands shaking. "... Sorry sir. I am... very emotional right now."

Filius patted his shoulder and moved to the trap door. "I am glad you have your mother's maturity. I will be back shortly."

As the Charms Professor's small body dropped into darkness, Harry stood still, feeling Wrath and Wisdom argue about what was best. Watcher on the other hand had tagged the teacher, and Harry waited.

If Professor Flitwick was hurt, Harry was going to end someone.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Madam Pomfrey reached the forbidden corridor with a puffing Terry Boot trying to keep up.

Seeing a boy shivering near a trap door she quickly began making complicated movements with her wand as she verified his health. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Boot has informed me that there was an explosion up here? Were you injured?"

The boy looked into her eyes, making her falter for a moment. There were a LOT of emotions in those eyes. "No, I wasn't. Thank you Madam Pomfrey." His eyes flicked toward the hatch. "Professor Flitwick is chasing someone who used some sort of explosive spell to kill the Cerberus behind me."

Her wand froze. There was a LARGE pile of fur behind the boy. She began moving again. Thankfully the only results so far had been shock, some aggression. "Physically you are fine, Mr. Potter. Would you like to come with me and take a calming draught before bed?"

He shook his head. "I may need to fight again tonight. I need to be awake and ready." His too old gaze moved to the dark hole in the floor. "However, either Professor Flitwick or the poor person about to be caught by him will likely need treatment soon."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Filius had moved fluidly and quietly into the dark. The protections for the stone were... well, many. McGonagall had been approached by an old friend of Dumbledore's, the famous Nicolas Flamel. Apparently they had scribed the future and determined the best place for the stone would be Hogwarts of all places this year... and barely moved it from their vault when it had almost been taken.

No one had been really happy to have such a thing in the school, but having the support of Flamel had prevented several horrifying changes in the school last year. Professor McGonagall had felt that the many layers of protection combined with absolute secrecy would be a strong defense.

The magic being cast continuously by children helped mask the stones presence, the wards protecting the school also messed with psychic methods of scrying and location readings. The hallway alone had dozens of wards preventing students, animals, even teachers from being able to get NEAR the door...

And someone had just rammed through with raw, desperate power.

Filius could feel his heart beating faster as he got closer to the end of all their traps. The false doors that would entrap, the time dilation fields to slow an intruder, physical and mental guards... all torn to pieces. A few walls even had holes in them, where there was no longer a way forward.

His eyes narrowed. This intruder knew too much. Power was one thing, but this one person (And it was only one magical signature he could taste in the air), knew too much.

Either it was a teacher, or someone had destroyed a teachers mind and was now using that information.

He eased his wand closer to the final room. This room was defended by Albus himself, and although he wouldn't answer what he had done it had taken all his power and over a week to recover. It HAD to be enough, at least to slow down this invader.

As he eased his way around the corner, he saw...

A large white room. Filled with shelves. Each shelf was filled with blood red stones, and ALL of them gave off incredible power.

On the floor was a broken man. Clothing torn, body slightly bloody... Quirinus Quirrell.

"It was... It is here master. I... which one?"

Flitwick froze as a soft voice wheezed. "Fool... you must bleed on them. The correct stone will drip golden liquid from your blood... and that will save us both. Find it, drink deep, and you will be whole."

As the man reached for a shelf, Filius snapped his wand three times. A dim light struck the worn man, making him fall stiff to the ground as the next two flashes pulled three wands from his body. "Stay right there, Quirrell. You are under wand."

Over the sound of the crying and bound teacher was a dark laughter, causing Flitwick to freeze. "Even now, my follower, you fail me. Once more I shall give you the power, but this shall be the last time."

The man's broken body seemed to shudder... then stand. Joints reversed as two of the wands flew to his hands. Flitwick stood in horror as the Turban fell... a face. HIS face.

His hands flexed, wands ready. "Professor Flitwick, this reminds me of old times. Unfortunately I have more important things to do than show you the depth of pain you deserve."

The much smaller professor gripped his wand, silently beginning a complicated charm. As his wand began to dance, he gave a bloody grin. "I see you have fallen in the world, Voldemort. Let me help you find your way even further down."

They leaped toward each other, lights flashing as they tried to end lives.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry stared at the darkness in the hole. Should he go down? No. He was not required to do this. No one was in danger, except for a professional. One who he trusted.

This was much harder to do than he thought. Normally he would just... take over. Letting someone else help felt... wrong somehow.

At some point he realized that Daphne had arrived and pulled him to the wall, helping him sit to wait. Giving her a soft smile, his glare at the hole relaxed slightly. Her silent support helped him find some level of calm.

As Madam Bones entered the room, she quickly moved to the nearest adult. "Miss Pomfrey, what is the situation?"

The healer gave a sigh. "Apparently someone broke into this room, killed a Cerberus, and continued through the defenses. Professor Flitwick went down a few minutes ago, but I haven't..."

They were interrupted by a body being hurled through the hole with a sick crunch as it landed.

Before anyone else could move Harry was up, waving a hand as an exhausted teacher was pulled up.

Professor Flitwick threw three broken wands to the ground with his non sliced arm. "Glad to see backup get here. This git was possessed pretty badly and decided to try against me."

Harry gently touched one of the gashes. "Is he still alive? I feel the taint of darkness on him."

The gasp in the room made Harry roll his eyes slightly. Thankfully only Flitwick seemed to notice. "Yeah, some spirit of... anyway, some spirit was possessing the fool. He will die soon if not cared for. Still debating if it is worth trying to help anyway. From what I can tell it was a willingly given arrangement."

Madam Bones fought through her surprise and made some hand gestures, causing two Aurors to move up and began repairing the former teacher. "We are glad you survived such an encounter, Professor. We will take him in for questioning, try to found out what ritual he used or how he was possessed, and how to prevent this in the future... hopefully. Where is the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress?"

Harry looked up, his hands still glowing on Flitwick's shoulder. "Hermione Granger reported that both were called to the Ministry for some emergency meeting of some sort. As far as I know, they are still there... possibly on a false errand."

At this point he realized that several people including Madam Pomfrey were staring at his hands and the many scars vanishing under them. "Oh. Yeah, I was healing Professor Flitwick. Since I couldn't help him earlier."

Filius looked at the arm. "Interesting... you fixed some scars that I got over thirty years ago."

Poppy Pomfrey on the other hand was watching in awe. "That last one was a curse scar. Dark magic... that is not supposed to be cured."

Harry shrugged as the wounds on the teacher continued to vanish. "Yeah, I just destroyed the entire area and rebuilt it with healthy flesh. Wish I knew any real healing spells... this would probably be easier."

Madam Bones sighed, rubbing her eyes. An evil spirit, some sort of magical healing, and a teacher who clearly was possessed. Oh Merlin, the paperwork.

Poppy was already making mental lists of books to give the boy. If he could do stuff like this with no training... her eyes gained a sparkle.

Harry looked around, confused. "So... just to be clear, I can go now, right? I honestly feel overwhelmed by everything."

Filius gave him a small smile. "Go on, Mr. Potter. And take twenty points for NOT following some obviously powerful wizard into a dark hole alone." He frowned. "Make that fifteen. You lose five for entering the room."

Harry grinned. "Thanks professor. I better get going before I lose more for how late it is."

He headed for the door, subtly leading Daphne and Terry out away from the Aurors. 'Watcher, connect me.'

'Done.'

Harry's eyes went dim slightly. 'Emergency over. None of us injured, Professor Flitwick had a few major issues but I healed them. Cerberus was only fatality... so far. Turns out the cause was Professor Quirrell. Git was possessed by a spirit... not sure for how long.'

Susan stopped pacing in the Hufflepuff common room with Hannah. 'Combat done? Auntie is ok?'

'Confirmed. Although she seems sad at the prospective paperwork.'

Hermione finally put down the book she was supposed to be reading... like she could focus now. 'How... how bad was Professor Flitwick's injuries?'

He shrugged, feeling Daphne lean slightly into him. It was pretty late. 'Some arm damage, a nasty curse on his leg that I manage to break apart with ropes before he noticed it.'

Padma sniffled. 'The... the Cerberus died?'

'Well, mostly. Wisdom managed to find a way for me to take minds into my mind world permanently, so I saved 1/3 of him.' Harry grinned. 'Apparently he drools a lot. Wrath is taking care of him now.'

Padma managed a small smile. 'Can I name him?'

'Sure. Not tonight though, I just need to collapse really... holding back Wrath is much harder than it looks. Thank goodness you got help quickly guys.'

Daphne grumbled. 'Not that it helped. Stupid Snape. My own head of house wouldn't even let me get a sentence out.'

Harry squeezed her shoulders slightly. 'Well, welcome to the club. We have cookies.'

Hannah squealed. 'Really?'

Finally Harry could feel the remaining stress start to leave his system. Rules? Meh. 'Really. Everyone who wants to, head down to Goran's Merp 2. After all this stress I call for a cookie day.'

Hermione cringed. 'Eugh, the sugar. I won't be able to look Mom and Dad in the eyes when I get back.'

Terry grinned. 'Well, at least you will have cookies to go with the guilt, right?'

Harry and his friends all started filtering out of the school, passing Aurors and students, heading toward an evening of friendship, emotional support, and cookies.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Goran stared at the children. "So... hi."

Padma raised a hand. "Harry said we can come over and have cookies!"

Goran looked at the small crowd... "Well, sure. I guess." He sighed and looked toward the shrugging boy with green eyes. "Thanks for the heads up, Da." He sighed... "Alright, everyone come on in. I can't make Hagrid's Rock Cakes, but I am pretty good at peanut brittle if you don't mind waiting a few minutes."

~~~Core Threads~~~

In the castle, Professor McGonagall was becoming frantic. "Albus, just which ONE of those stones was the real one? MANY were damaged during the duel, And your copies are too good. I can't... how do we know which one was real?"

Albus grinned. "Ah, one of my more clever ideas, I think."

She waited.

"Yes? What was one of your more clever ideas?"

Dumbledore shrugged. "They were all fake."

Minerva paused... oh Merlin. "Which... uh. Where is the real stone?"

Dumbledore handed her a red stone from his pocket.

Minerva looked at it. "How... how long has this been in your pocket?"

Dumbledore handed her an orange from his pocket.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Thank you Albus, I will take care of it. Just... Thank you."


	41. Serious Questions

"I can't believe you had peanut brittle without me."

Daphne rubbed her eyes. "Tracey, I SAID I'm sorry. Everything happened at once."

Tracey continued tapping her foot, leaning forward. "You could have woken me up, you know."

She raised her hands in defense. "I was near Professor Snape's office. It was... urgent. Like, really important."

The other girl was looking REALLY hard.

"You were with Harry when you went for brittle."

Daphne blushed.

Tracey got a devious grin. "So... a boy distracted you so much that even AFTER all the excitement, you forgot to tell me about desert?"

She looked to the side. "I brought some back you know."

Seeing Tracey dive at the package almost made the girl giggle.

~~~Core Threads~~~

In an office set with hidden entrances and filled with paperwork, two teachers, and a school nurse, Amelia Bones was looking with deep seriousness at a pensive.

Her hands seemed to flex slightly, as if to release her hidden wand from her holster... a nervous habit she had tried to get rid of for years.

"So... how certain are we that this is really some sort of... remnant of the dark bastard?"

Flitwick gave a sigh. "His mannerisms were... very accurate. His attacks were similar but not identical to previous battles. He also created and sent snakes at me at one point."

Minerva seemed to still be in shock. "How... How did he get through the wards? I have been trying to find anything I can to improve them."

Amelia nodded. "The bastard had enchanted the entire turban with blood, from a young boy. It was covered in runes... well, let's just say that purple wasn't the original color." She sighed. "It suppressed everything. As long as Quirrell wasn't possessed, spelled, or potioned while crossing the ward lines, then he wouldn't trigger anything."

Poppy leaned in. "We could mandate physicals for all new teachers... it would prevent something this obvious in the future, and there would be a good health related reason as well."

Filius sighed. "This is all well and good, but if You-Know-Who is still out there, then this explains a lot. Aside from the troll thing, someone had killed and bled a unicorn last week." He frowned. "How did the evil git even survive? He isn't a ghost, clearly."

Amelia frowned. "Has anyone asked Mr. Potter?" Seeing their confusion she waved a hand. "My niece Susan is friends with the boy. He has an amazing memory, something more advanced than Occlumency. Even taught it to a few of his friends."

Filius looked thoughtful. "It has been frustrating teaching his group. Each of them finishes all their assignments on the first try, spends the rest of the class doing homework, and leaves. I offered more advanced work for them, but they seem to prefer self study." He rubbed his hand absently. "I had so much work, I never really get much time to really talk to them about other matters than classwork."

Minerva also had a strange look. "I know that Madam Pince has given them access to a project room in the library, and that Mr. Potter has another one under his son's new house."

Amelia's eyebrows rose. "Son? Isn't he eleven?"

McGonagall sighed. "He adopted that troll."

"... oh."

Minerva nodded. "Yes, the boy has been an adventure to be around, really. Could easily be a prodigy in class as well... I think we scared him out of that actually. The first few classes he... caused some excitement."

Amelia grinned. "I heard about the snowball spell. Susan even sent me some notes on it from Mr. Potter when I asked. Great for target practice."

Poppy gave a worried expression. "But must we bother the boy about such a dark thing?"

Madam Bone's seemed to slouch slightly. "You-know-who will target him. If that bastard is still... floating around, we need to know why and take care of it. Children should NOT be the ones fighting, much less attacking trolls or the dark git himself."

McGonagall was about to agree when a wave of fire appeared above the desk... "Oh. Hello Fawkes."

A beautiful flame landed on the desk, making soft sounds that lightened the room and made the air taste slightly sweet. It had a bird shape... sort of. You had to look at it slightly from the edge of your eye.

Amelia looked at the phoenix with a small smile. "Long time, Fawkes. Did you have something for us?"

With a sweet cry, the bird dropped something, leaped into the air, and vanished.

All the peace in Minerva's face was replaced with a short expression of confusion followed by intense annoyance. "Ah, from Albus."

Madam Bones jerked slightly. "Something wrong Minerva?"

McGonagall sighed, picking up the orange. "No, nothing is wrong. Albus has been offering me this orange for... I don't know how long. Last week it showed up in my shoe."

Amelia tried to hide her grin. Albus always was her favorite teacher back in school. "Why not eat it?"

Minerva had a look. "I don't want to know what he would send NEXT time. I don't need another watermelon incident."

Filius chuckled and held out a hand. "Well, may I have it at least? I enjoy an orange as much as anyone."

She sighed, passing it over. "If I end up being overwhelmed with cabbages because you wanted some vitamin C, I blame you, Filius."

Amelia's face faded from a smile back to grim stone. "I have... another option. One of You-Know-Who's most inner circle death eaters in Azkaban has managed to stay mostly sane for... oh, about 11 years now. If all else fails we can use Veritaserum on him."

Several faces went white. Minerva swallowed slightly. "Not... Sirius Black?"

Her grim face nodded. "We won't take chances if it comes to that. We will have him heavily restrained. No risks. If that is what it takes to prevent the Dark Lord from rising, so be it."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry sighed as he looked over the letter. Apparently most goblins had to work shifts as a Wizard Clerk in Gringotts, which is why Bogrod's response had taken so long... and was so grumpy. He did grin slightly... it had come up during the week of gem creation that Bogrod had actually been one of the first Goblins Harry had met in the wizarding world.

And right now, Bogrod was REALLY excited.

Harry had sent a basic request really... What would a triple seven star diamond look like? What angles should each layer be off from each other, to be as magically powerful as possible? Would it be magically better to have a single stone composed of more than one material?

And how strong would a seven-layered seven star diamond be?

Apparently Harry had caused about a third of Gringotts to be put on the project, after they realized that with his power these questions were not just theoretical.

It almost caused an economic issue as the bank debated closing for the day.

Right now Harry was looking at one of the first reports from the Jeweler clan, with what appeared to be a bottomless pouch FILLED with raw diamonds, several bars of silver, and a request for about five gems to be created. The idea that they would just SEND raw diamonds and silver to him... it was a shock.

"So what you got there, Potter?" Daphne slid onto the couch next to the wizard.

He gave a weak smile. "Got an order from Gringotts." His smile got a bit larger, and his eyes sparkled. "Actually, maybe everyone will want to see this. I have been making some money for Goran by crafting stuff."

Daphne paused pulling out her research books. Gringotts? The Goblins were ordering stuff from HARRY? "Uh... sure." She looked around Merp 2, making sure they were alone. "Say, Harry... are you doing all right?"

The boy's smile seemed to harden slightly, his eyes dulled. His eyes flinched... but seeing her eyes, something relaxed slightly. He sighed. "No, not really Daphne. I felt... so helpless. Useless. I could feel the darkness Professor Flitwick was fighting, and I... I couldn't allow myself to fight it."

He looked down, seeing his hand seem to slowly turn skeletal and back to normal. "It felt... my heart was hurting, not getting there in time to save that creature. I felt worthless, and angry... and I had to just hold it in. I had no release, just filled with anger and vengeance."

Soft hands hugged his arm, startling him to look into her deep blue eyes. "You did a lot, Harry. You got us organized, helped us get the teachers in place... you prevented that creature from getting whatever was being protected. That isn't worthless."

His green eyes stopped glowing, and the room began to warm back up. "Thanks, Daph. It... the whole thing made me feel so useless, like I was just there to order people around."

She grinned. "That's all a leader really is."

Harry snorted. "I guess I prefer to be a bit more hands on."

An unexpected voice giggled. "Apparently."

A quick eep and the two red faced children separated as Daphne grabbed a pillow. "SHUT IT, Tracey. It... this... We weren't doing anything!"

Tracey grinned as she wiggled into the other side of the blushing boy. "Well, that's too bad. More time for us?"

Harry's mouth moved slightly as a pillow smacked into the girl. He coughed. "Good afternoon, Tracey. Did you get the brittle we saved for you?"

Tracey's face went slightly relaxed as she hugged the pillow Daphne had hurled. "It was SOOO good..."

Harry grinned. "Yeah, my son apparently has a bit of a talent in cooking. I had to make most of his pans and stuff by hand, but he learns quickly."

Hermione and Hannah grinned as they walked down the stone steps. Hermione had a very hefty bag of books behind her, which she somehow balanced. "You three look active."

Harry waved a hand, pulling another couch closer so the other girls could get comfortable while still talking. "Well, we were talking a bit about brittle. I also got a request from Gringotts and thought everyone would like to see a bit."

Hermione slid into the soft cushions, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were researching wards? I did a lot of research on that for you, you know."

Hannah giggled. "Well, maybe they wanted ward help or something."

The boy waved them off. "No, I don't have to look at their wards until Summer, this is just a short project to make me money to build a home for my family."

The room went a bit quiet. He looked up. "Oh. Didn't I mention that?"

Daphne sighed. "No Harry, you didn't mention that the best ward makers in England want you to double check their works." She rubbed her eyes. "Mind you, we shouldn't be surprised at this point. But no, you didn't mention it."

Harry held up some of the papers. "Well, what does everyone know about magical gems?"

The following discussion had several gasps, made Hermione almost hyperventilate at the idea of doing REAL MAGICAL RESEARCH, according to her words, and caused Daphne to do several mental calculations that caused her to go slightly slack-jawed.

Tracey recovered first. "So... you can just... MAKE diamonds."

"Yep."

She narrowed her eyes. "So... this is most definitely Game-Breaking stuff."

Harry nodded.

Daphne leaned in. "Can you teach others to do this?"

He shrugged. "Not until you can completely control your ropes and such outside your body. Doing it in your mind is easy compared to out here in the waking world. Even then, not sure if you can." He shook the papers. "That is why they want to find this stuff out quickly. No one knows if I may lose this ability or get hurt or something, so this may be the only chance to make magical gems of an impossible to create quality and ability."

Hermione closed her open mouth. "And you're doing this... just to buy a house?"

He grinned. "Nah, I already increased my max worth by several times. No, I want to find the most powerful shape and material combination to build a diamond warding stone."

Oh, he REALLY had their attention now.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Black waves tried to drag a dark island into the ocean, one with complex wards to ensure a constant collection of dark and dreary clouds. The air was stale, the ground seemed to crunch with the bones of the damned, and every step echoed with lost chances.

Azkaban.

Filled with screams from the healthiest, but covered over with layers of decay and silence. The walls were grim, and the sounds...

The grime was black like soot. It was... wrong. Felt like tears of a loved ones, dried and let loose over their grave. It coated the rags in each cell, it was breathed in by dying creatures.

Floating along these dark corridors were creatures of blackness. Robes of night draped over withered limbs, a cowl of shadows protecting them from exposure to the dangerous light. These creations drifted, feeding on the emotions of the damned chained within close exposure.

Madam Bones took a deep breath and steadied her eyes. Against her better judgment, she was going to see HIM.

Jumpy Aurors followed her as she moved down the halls. Glowing white creatures, Patronus cast beings of love an courage, flew through and around them.

Even so the darkness seemed to pull her soul closer to death.

A dementor could pull the life, the SOUL of a wizard or witch and consume it. Never to see loved ones, never to feel happiness... the rest of eternity being consumed by the thing.

Death would be a relief compared to that.

As she moved down darkened halls, she could feel the screams and tears fading. These were the more secure cells, the ones more traveled by those creatures. These were the broken ones.

Sirius Black however, he would be deeper.

Her face became even more strict as her thoughts turned dark. Sirius had fooled her. Everyone really... but most of all, HER. Her love was just a tool he used, one to keep close to power while preparing to betray the world.

Well, today the world would be getting some of its own back.

Her steps faltered slightly as she saw his cell.

All the other cages were just cells in the wall... but not his. A box in the floor of the room. Small. Too small. Surrounded by Dementors.

Her solid conviction took a heavy hit. This... this was bad.

Think of the Potters.

She took a deep breath and waved away the creatures from the sobbing inside the dark box. She approached.

"Sirius Black, we require you."

From the edge of the box, she saw something shift. Soft words... "... Amy?"

Her breath caught. She steadied it. "I am Amelia Bones. We need to know everything you have about the inner circle of Voldemort, his plans, everything."

The cage seemed to shake. A sob? "Amy... thank you Amy. I knew you would come. You... It is time for my trial? I can... Amy?"

All her thoughts fell. Ice filled her. He hadn't... no trial? All the... no. "You... you had a trial, Black. We are going to get this information no matter what. I brought Veritaserum, and I brought questions."

The sobbing increased. "Thank you Amy, Thank you... Please, give me Veritaserum, ASK ME! Just... Amy... ask... innocent... please..."

Her heart started to break. This... could she just... it wouldn't hurt, would it? Just an extra question. These Aurors were her people, they wouldn't say anything...

As her team started pulling Sirius out of the box, her breath caught again. He was... thin. Very thin. Shivering.

But his eyes were filled with victory and hope.

"I... innocent..."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Minerva was trying to find one of her most interesting students. Harry Potter... in some ways, more trouble than his father, the rest of the marauders, AND the Weasley twins.

And he wasn't even TRYING to cause problems. Merlin help them all if he began pulling pranks.

After asking around, she worked her way out to Goran's home. Harry's group was pretty... diverse. Every house was represented really. Some of her cubs were even calling the group "Harry's House", since they spent more time in one of the two project rooms than in their own houses.

And the things they did... Well, they were clearly created by Ravenclaws. Research into magic itself, and they hadn't even made it one year yet.

It would be less frustrating if they were not SUCCEEDING in their studies. The boy had already made an amazing 'Stasis' charm that Flitwick was ecstatic over. Who knew what they were doing now.

As she walked into the well built stone home and moved down the stairs, she paused.

All the students were in a circle, watching Harry do... SOMETHING. His eyes were glowing, his hand was hovering over something glittery and... song? She could hear some singing, like an angle taking a shower.

Moving gently, more cat-like than she would admit to, she moved closer.

His hand was floating on a puddle of crystal. Some perfectly clear material was flowing under his hand... now a silver one? No, back to crystal... what on earth?

It didn't even cross her mind to interrupt. Something in the air felt like she was holding her breath, waiting for... SOMETHING.

Her stern expression softened as she looked at the boy. His face looked like James right now... like he was flying, about to throw a winning shot. Like Lily, just before she finished some complicated formula for a new potion, a new movement for a spell.

There was joy there, in those eyes.

Her attention was pulled away.

Padma leaned forward. "Oh Harry... it is so pretty."

He chuckled. "Well, sure I guess. The point though is that three is a stronger prime than two is, so Bogrod thinks this will be more magically strong than a normal one." He looked up with a grin that turned into shock. "OH... uh. Hello Professor McGonagall."

Everyone jumped and turned like a giant panda had appeared. Thankfully Minerva was distracted. "What... is that, Mr. Potter?"

He grinned, picking up the glittering. "Behold! The world's first triple-layered seven star diamond!" He frowned. "Now for the annoying part. If I pass out, tell me."

Before anyone could really catch what was going on, his body flashed. A green glow covered his body, and his eyes seemed to focus it on his hand... the power in the room began to pulse against their skin.

As McGonagall recovered and prepared to stun the child, the power seemed to swirl inwards... twist. The air, which felt so alive and sparkling, suddenly began to swirl and... no, just the magic.

The magic of the room was being absorbed by his hand.

As he finished, Harry staggered slightly as Daphne grabbed his arm and Padma grabbed the other. "Uh... wow. That was MUCH harder than charging a double seven star gem."

Hermione's eyes were... well, huge. "Harry... did you just... were there runes on that gem?"

Harry nodded. "I was using that silver bar for it. Managed to get a few extra thousand runes on this one, since I practiced so much at Gringotts."

Susan and Neville looked at each other. Neville hesitantly raised a hand. "How... how many did you just charge up?"

Harry sighed. "All of them."

He froze, slowly looking up. Minerva was glaring at him with a mixture of fear, anger, and... something? "Mr. Potter... NEVER do this without supervision again. EVER. Powering runes could... SHOULD have killed you. Especially if you did... what, thousands?" She seemed so... her hands flexed.

Her glare moved on to the others. "EVERYONE UNDERSTAND? Supervision for anything NEAR this level of magic use. If ANY of you had tried to do what Mr. Potter just did... I would have corpses here instead of students."

She felt smaller hands gently holding her hand, which she now realized had her nails digging into her flesh. She looked down into Harry's eyes. "Professor McGonagall, I had professional Goblins from the Jeweler clan observe this procedure, and my abilities. I am actually licensed to power up to a certain number of runes solo according to Goblin decree per day. It was part of my working with the Jeweler Clan."

He was ok. Everyone was fine. Minerva just kept running through those thoughts, making sure she knew inside that the precious little boy hadn't just tried to kill himself. She gave a stiff nod. "Mr. Potter, you will ensure that none of your friends will attempt powering such a thing in any way without supervision."

It was NOT a request, and Harry knew it. "Of course, Professor. I was just sharing a part of my part-time job with them, not teaching the process."

She took a few more deep, steadying breaths. "Good... Good. Mr. Potter, I originally came down to inform you about a meeting in the Headmaster's office in two hours. Please be prompt. And... less of... just..."

She got a bit closer, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, please don't scare me like that. You could have died."

His breath caught in his throat a bit. He nodded.

She squeezed and turned away. "I would take points, but... well. Don't let this happen again."

Tracey watched the retreating teacher. "So... not in trouble?"

Seeing all the glares she just grinned. "HEY, just checking. And Harry is fine, right?" Her eyes had a bit of nervousness as she checked over Harry.

He chuckled, wiping one eye. "Well, I am a bit drained of power, but that only took out like 80% of my ability I think." He paused. "Watcher says 85% of my maximum magical output. And 83% of that was the runes."

Terry leaned in, looking at the stone in Harry's hand. "It is... very neat looking. Is the line really runes?"

Hermione seemed to have recovered. An angry teacher caused certain reactions that she hadn't overcome yet. "Yes, etched gems get a lot of runes so they have to be in REALLY small sizes."

Harry sat next to Daphne and Tracey, taking some comfort from them slightly leaning into him. Padma's look also helped him settle... he hadn't understood how dangerous his activities would be for normal children.

It had still felt nice realizing how much Professor McGonagall cared.

~~~Core Threads~~~

In a secret Ministry room, an Unspeakable healer was working on the body of a hurt man with wild black hair while a crying Madam Bones was working with his soul.


	42. Dark Thoughts and Muffins

Harry gently knocked on the Headmaster's door. The guardian at this point just moved out of the way on it's own rather than wait for him to pull on the magic, thankfully.

After the... incident with the runes, he felt a bit nervous about this meeting.

The door opened, showing two slightly nervous professors and a stranger. Minerva gave him a small smile. "Come in, Mr. Potter." She waved a hand to her left. "Mr. Shacklebolt is here from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the DMLE."

The man had hard edges but a smile on his face. He smiled and held out a hand. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mr. Potter." As they shook his smile turned a bit dark. "I understand you were in the area when the possessed Mr. Quirrell was... detained?"

Harry gave a nod. "Do you need a statement?"

He shook his head. "A copy of your memory would be more than enough, but we are more concerned about who we think was possessing the teacher." His face was stone. "We have reason to believe it was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Harry's face took a dark turn that shocked Minerva. "Ah, that bastard. I suppose I should be more shocked, but after what he did to me it's hard to be surprised."

Filius looked a bit shocked, but moved on. "We were talking with Madam Bones, and she mentioned that you have an amazing memory."

The boy softened. "Ah, Susan's Aunt? Well, she is right. I have sorted most of my memories from birth at this point."

Minerva stepped in, unpleasant as this was. She placed a hand on a stone bowl on the desk. "Mr. Potter, this is a Pensieve. It can magically hold memories and play them back for others in third person, and is useful for both legal work and investigations."

She sighed. "We were hoping you could show us the night of His attack, so we could find out WHY he seems to be back as a ghost... thing."

Harry leaned forward, frowning slightly. "Why is there an orange in it?"

Minerva blinked. Looked down.

That old bastard.

"No reason." She quickly tossed the orange to an eager looking Filius. "Now, for most wizards you simply place the wand to your temple, think about the memory you wish to view, and pull the strand of magic and place it in the bowl."

She looked up. "Now, as you have mental defenses it will be a bit different. You will have to push your memory into the wand as you pull it, as your memories don't just saturate your magic like an untrained mind would."

Harry took a deep, slightly shuddering breath. "Well, that sounds... nice. Do I have to relieve the memory itself?"

All three adults shook their head. Minerva gestured a hand. "The untrained minds have to, since it is the only way to ensure the CORRECT memory is selected. You should be able to just pass it to the wand though."

Harry took a deep breath. 'Watcher, pass me the night.'

'Yes Rinpoche. Your point of view or his?'

Harry paused. "Ah... did you want my point of view or Voldemort's?"

He was a bit set back from the two slight gasps. "Uh... sorry, didn't realize the dark bastard's name was that big a deal."

Filius glared slightly at the other two. "Mr. Potter, he left a bit of impression. Saying his name would activate a nation wide Taboo he had created, allowing him to know the location of the person even behind most wards. Saying it normally caused an attack... back THEN, anyway."

His gaze softened. "Now, what do you mean by 'his perspective'?"

Harry's gaze hardened. Even as he answered, the air began to settle and a chill began filling the room. "That bastard put something dark in me that night. A black creature, something like an evil baby. I killed it when I was eight."

He looked up and saw three white faces, etched in horror. He gave a weak smile. "It was behind a lightning bolt shaped scar on my forehead. Whatever it was, it attacked my power, it attacked the red threads protecting my house, and it corrupted my Aunt and Uncle, making them do dark things. When it tried to take me over, I was in my mind at the time."

He frowned. "It was trying to make ME become angry and twisted... which of course, worked to some extent. Unfortunately for IT at the time, I was NEXT TO IT in my mind. I stabbed it to death with magic."

Harry sighed, not really focusing on the horrified adults. "After I killed it, lots of its memories filled my mind. So I had to lock them all away, after filtering out the anger and hate that those memories were stuffed with."

Wow, they were quiet.

Minerva tried to take a calming breath. "Mr... Mr. Potter, would you allow us to verify that the... creature is really gone?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure, it was a few years ago though. Anyway, as long as I don't have to view the memories themselves I don't mind copying them and giving you those." He gave her a firm look. "Just know, most of them were so filled with... well, darkness, that I couldn't even review them. Murder, rape... I just don't want to know it all."

Kingsley seemed unable to talk, but Filius stepped forward, pulling the boy to the desk. His wand flickered, and a glass bottle with a glass lid appeared. "Harry, could you fill this with a copy of... that bastards memories?"

Harry nodded. "It should be everything he remembered up till that night when he tried to kill me." He gently placed his hand over the opening.

'Watcher, you know what to do, right?'

'Already prepared, Rinpoche. This will likely feel... nasty though.'

Harry sighed. "Of COURSE it would feel gross. Darn it."

Before anyone else could comment, he could feel sludge flowing through his right arm. Down his shoulder, sticking to his elbow, dragged up to his palm...

Black ooze began filling the glass, clumping and dripping from Harry's hand. Even as the horrified adults watched, the obsidian liquid seemed to churn and twist inside the container.

As the last of the gunk seeped from his palm like a weeping wound, Harry shuddered. "THAT... that was gross." He turned to the stunned teachers and slowly grinning Auror. "Well, there you go. Has all his stuff, including the useful things."

Minerva was feeling an upset stomach as she looked at the vile liquid as Filius sealed it with the glass lid. "What could that monster know that was useful?"

Harry shrugged. "Money conversion rates, a few languages, that kind of thing. General wizarding knowledge of culture, locations, and stuff. He knows how to talk to Dementors and Snakes for one thing, that will likely be useful."

Harry moved his hand over the pensive. A silver memory streaked with gold floated from his palm. "Here, this is a memory of how to speak to both of them. Not sure how it will work for you, since it is nothing but knowledge, not a memory of a place or a situation."

He sat back in his chair, relaxing slightly. Looking at the adults, Minerva was still staring at the Jar in horror, Flitwick seemed eager to mess with the gold streaked memory, and Shacklebolt looked like Christmas had been extended to a week long.

The Auror gently lifted the sealed glass. His eager look faded a bit. It... pulsed. Almost like a heartbeat. And was warm. Eww. Still... he grinned. "There are SO many cases we can solve with this... hundreds of missing cases, people who were secretly working with him, secret strongholds that we can capture or bug for information..."

He looked at Harry with a hunter's grin, full of teeth. "Boy, you have done more today than anyone could have hoped. Killing the dark prick was one thing, but THIS may help us dismantle his whole support structure!"

Minerva took a deep breath. "Well... well. Thank you Harry. Please, I am sure your friends are waiting for you. I will let you know if we need any more assistance."

Harry sighed and gave a nod. His arm still felt... unclean from that. He headed for the door, deciding that an extra shower wouldn't hurt any plans for today.

He grinned slightly. Today he was going to continue planning and making gifts for Christmas... at least that would help him feel less corrupted and stained by darkness.

~~~Core Threads~~~

"Alright, so we all like Harry, right?" Tracey was looking at the group. Hermione seemed a bit embarrassed to be here, Daphne was just hiding behind her hands, Padma was just smiling, and Hannah was nodding.

Susan raised a hand. "I like him like a brother more than anything. Anyone else?"

Tracey grinned as she watched Hermione debate with herself. "Well, you may change your opinion if you get a new wand."

Daphne squeaked. "SHHH, shh. That never happened, none of it."

Oh, she had WAY more attention now than she wanted. Hannah was grinning and ooching closer. "So... WHAT didn't happen?"

Tracey grinned. "So everyone remembers what it felt like when Harry made your wands compatible with your cores?"

Several red faced nods followed.

Tracey began to smirk. "Well, we found out that the better Harry knows you and the more he likes you the more... intimate the feelings become."

Now Daphne was getting some VERY interested looks. She shook her head. "Nope, nothing. NOTHING happened."

Hermione seemed to still be having an internal debate. "So... what did it feel like? I noticed Harry sort of... ran off after you two had your cores settled."

Tracey opened her mouth before Daphne jumped from the couch, launched at her, and covered most of her face. "NOTHING, it felt like nothing, really boring. Right Tracey?"

Daphne forced her head to nod.

"Ok, we are done here? Good, everyone back to research."

Hannah seemed to be grinning now. "Oh, it must have been GOOOOD."

Tracey forced Daphne's hands to nod.

Padma grinned. "You know Daphne, right now you are sort of sprawled over Tracey and forcing her to admit that nothing happened. Not the best argument to convince us really."

Daphne paused, frowning. She sighed, sitting back in her chair. Tracey would just tell everyone when she left anyway.

Tracey smirked. "Felt like he was kissing our arm all the way to our core."

Daphne went white. WHY had she let go?

Thankfully the rest of the room was stunned to silence. Most carefully not looking at the other girls.

Hannah, still looking at an interesting part of the floor coughed. "So... what did it feel like when he actually reached your core?"

Daphne absently sighed. "Like the best kiss on the mouth ever."

She realized everyone was looking at her and went white again. "I... that was... I didn't say that out loud, right?"

Hannah was looking at her wand. "Wonder how often I can lose this thing..."

Susan swatted her arm.

Hermione giggled, slightly hysterically. "No wonder he doesn't like fixing boys wands."

Tracey nodded. "Thank goodness. It would be a loss to women everywhere."

Padma had a bit of dreamy look. "Hmm... maybe we should get spare wands? Wouldn't want our main one to break, right?"

Hermione was blushing. "Look, he probably doesn't even... I mean, we are a bit young you know? For kissing and stuff."

Tracey giggled. "For now, I guess. In a year or two I might get a few dozen wands though."

Hannah grinned. "We could be the band of wand sisters or something. With belts covered in wands."

Daphne had a bit of a look too. "Oh my... what would THAT feel like?"

Hannah looked confused... then blushed. "I just meant STORING the wands there, not... I mean..."

Tracey grinned. "Well, I got a plan now. Wonder if I could cast with my toes."

Daphne threw a pillow.

Tracey grinned. "So... anyone want to visit my mind? I may have a memory you girls would like to see."

Daphne threw all the pillows she could reach.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Goran was in the middle of cooking some muffins when his stone door opened, letting his Da in. He grinned. "Da, I think I found a way to make Hagrid's rock cakes edible by humans." He frowned at the oven. "Or how to make them explosive. It was a fine line, really."

Harry grinned. "Either way, well done son." He began organizing some diamonds and began crafting some diamond bars for later. "How was your day? Heard you and Hagrid were hunting."

He sighed, settling into a huge stone chair. "Apparently there are these huge spiders that I am NOT supposed to eat. One of Hagrid's pets became the size of a house and had thousands of kids."

Harry tilted his head. "What do they taste like?"

Goran shrugged. "Without sauce, a bit crunchy. I got to use some mustard half way through the second one before Hagrid caught up. Think crunchy crab, but you don't take off the shell."

Harry actually felt a bit tempted. "Well... it does sound nice. How far off did you guys go for them?"

Troll shoulders shrugged again. "Not far at all. Barely into the woods actually. The nest is only a few dozen yards in there."

The boy paused, a third diamond brick half created. "Wait... there are giant house size spiders within reach of students?"

Goran nodded, watching the ovens. "Probably why they call it the forbidden forest, really. That and the were-trees."

He rubbed his eyes. "What is a were-tree?"

"Rabbit by day, tree by night."

He frowned. "It honestly doesn't SOUND that dangerous."

Goran grinned. "The change is VERY quick. Anyone standing on top of one of the rabbit burrows is suddenly hurled fifty meters in the air. It's pretty hilarious."

Harry had a slightly glazed look. "So... those strange 'daemon birds' we see at nightfall?"

The troll nodded. "Just random animals launched. Although some do it on purpose for fun."

Harry sighed and went back to brick creation. "By the way, I sent another letter to Aunt Petunia. She's not happy that I will be spending the holidays here, but she understands that my son comes first, as confusing as the concept of me already having a kid was for her."

Goran paused. "Are... are you sure you want to be here Da? I never had Christmas before, it wouldn't be a big deal. I know I can't visit home."

Harry placed the most recent diamond bar down, and moved around, hugging his son. "It is your first Christmas. I created you, to a very real extent. And I will be there for you."

He smiled up at his slightly sniffing boy. "Besides, I am working on getting us a home. Us and future Potters... maybe even Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, if they wish to join us. And Big D, of course."

Goran gave a teary grin. "Big D will be pretty small compared to me."

Harry grinned back. "I am sure he will find it hilarious after a bit."

Before Goran could respond a timer went off and his face went a bit blank. "Oh... the explosive muffins."

Both looked at the oven in a mixture of eagerness and fear. "So... HOW explosive was the last batch you made?"

Goran was putting on an apron that seemed to be made from stone. "If I say run, could you shift us both out of here?"

Harry flexed both hands, glowing green. "Today we dine on muffins or chaos."

Goran was putting on heavy steel gauntlets. "Dear Merlin let it be muffins this time."

Harry shrugged, verifying no one was nearby. "Either way should be neat."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Professor Snape had finally thought of a way to put that blasted Potter brat in his place. He had adopted that animal of a son (Almost as bad as a REAL Potter).

The important thing though was that creature WASN'T a human... and so it was NOT against the law to use the Unforgivable curse's on it.

True it wasn't the Potter brat himself, but torturing an animal before execution would probably make his day complete. Especially if that Potter bastard cared for it.

He greased his way closer to the stone house near the half-giant's hut. It had taken over an hour to get this close. He was using some dark rings from the good old days of being a Death Eater, each made of blood-silver and etched with runes powered by dying children. HEAVILY illegal, but they would completely suppress his magical signature and presence to ENSURE he would get the drop on that troll abomination.

As he snuck into the open stone door, he saw a brief glimpse of Harry Potter and Goran fading away like mist... and a tray of muffins half spilled on the floor, glowing red and pulsing.

As he hurled the killing curse at both of them, they vanished... and the curse hit one of the muffins.

Everything went white.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry had already started to shift them when he saw the killing curse aimed toward them. JERKING his magic they both reappeared near the castle...

CRUMP!

Goran and Harry looked at each other and slowly turned back towards the stone house.

There was a fine gray mist floating from what used to be Goran's roof. Even as they watched the could see pulses of air floating up, forming the gray dust into a small mushroom cloud.

Oh, there was Snape. He apparently had been thrown THROUGH the stone door. Well, what WAS the stone door.

Harry felt like he should be angry. Like he should be getting revenge or something.

But it WAS a nice explosion.

He was probably experiencing shock.

Goran coughed. "So... NONE of the previous batches did that. It was mostly broken muffin pans."

Harry gave an absent nod. "I think he hit one with a killing curse."

He looked at the boy in shock. "Why does he hate muffins!?"

Harry paused... "Uh." No reason to bother his son with the truth. "I think he has a history with them. At least, NOW he has a history with them." Harry frowned. "If he lives through this, I mean."

'Watcher, connect us.'

'Rinpoche, Susan is a bit... exasperated. Another letter then?'

Harry sighed. 'Hey Susan. Sorry for the bother.'

There was a BUNCH of noise for a second, but the general topic was "WHAT WAS THAT" followed by accusations.

The boy groaned. 'Look, we made muffins and Professor Snape tried to kill one with the killing curse.'

Well, THAT got them quiet. Tracey had a bit of a smile though. 'Muffins?'

Daphne had a more urgent question. 'Harry, is the bastard ok?'

Harry looked at the smoking form. 'Meh. Moving a bit, so probably.'

She sighed. 'Could you send him to the Hospital Wing? I don't want to know who he would be replaced with, really.'

Harry sighed before grinning. 'Mind if I leave some agents? I don't want to risk him using spells on me, my son, or muffins again.'

She shrugged. 'Sure, in fact it may make things better in the long run.'

Terry chipped in. 'Harry, you have Professor McGonagall inbound.'

'Got it.' Harry shifted over to the smoldering pile of stone and teacher. Reaching into the pile, he gripped the man's throat and lifted him to eye level.

Severus could barely breathe. His spine felt wrong, and apparently the wave of magic from the muffins had caused the rings on his left hand to ignite, burning through his fingers. As he looked into cold green eyes, he tried to shudder as the left eye began to fade into a glowing green ember.

The hand on his neck felt more and more skeletal.

"Mr. Severus Snape. I have a fair idea that you had not intended on Muffincide tonight. However, since you aimed at me and NOT my son, I have decided to be a bit... generous."

He pulled the shivering flesh toward him, whispering into his ear. "I will allow you to live."

Harry reached out again, turning those horrified eyes to face his own.

Severus felt like his world was flowing with pain. His eyes were being held still, his limbs were burning.

Those eyes, so cold, were looking into his soul.

He passed out, still staring into those eyes.

Harry moved his magic, repairing most of his teacher. He also reinforced the break in the bastards spine so it would not repair with magic. The loss of his legs would be a fair enough reminder to not attack children.

Even as the flesh rebuilt itself, he heard a gasp. "MR. POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Harry glanced over his shoulder at Minerva. "Professor, I am repairing his body. He was thrown through a stone door by a powerful magical explosion." Seeing her expression he sighed. "He attempted to use the killing curse on a muffin."

Her righteous anger started falling apart as she watched scars and blood vanish from the Slytherin teacher. "Is he... is he alright?"

Harry shook his head. "He is unconscious, but I have been able to repair almost everything. There is some odd magic around his spine where he hit the stone door during the explosion though, and some dark magic residue on two of his lost finger stumps." He waved a hand, levitating the bloody robed teacher behind him as he began walking toward the castle.

Professor McGonagall followed, casting her own diagnostics on the man. "How did you and your son avoid the blast? It was... enormous."

Harry shrugged. "I found that I can make connections with magic and pull myself and others along them, moving us from place to place. It's harder in wards of course, but still doable. If Professor Snape had been closer to us I could have grabbed him too."

His eyes turned a bit dim. "Of course, if he hadn't tried to use the killing curse on our muffins, then the explosion would have been FUNNY instead of massive."

Minerva wanted to whimper. She had just finished bothering the DMLE minutes ago, and now she had another case. She began to glare at the greasy teacher in front of her. She had KNOWN he was planning something, but she had expected something stupid, like two years of detentions for Harry or minus a million points or whatever. Not an assault on the Harry's son's home.

Goran was waiting near the castle. "So... I probably shouldn't make Chaos Muffins anymore, right?"

Minerva's glare almost made him release his bladder. "Ah... right."


	43. Aftershocks and Future Plans

Madam Pomfrey nearly had a heart attack seeing Mr. Potter floating in a slightly smoldering teacher. "Place him on this bed quickly. What happened?"

Harry gently laid the man down. "My son was trying to make an edible version of Hagrid's Rock Cakes. Well, edible for humans anyway." He frowned. "They came out magically unstable, so I was retreating us both to a safe distance when Professor Snape entered."

He looked into the nurse's eyes. "He cast the killing curse towards us. I am working under the assumption that he was aiming for the muffins for some reason."

She nodded, shock, understanding, and a certain level of anger in her eyes. "Was this the results of self defense then?"

Harry gave a rueful grin. "Actually, as far as I can tell it is sort of karma. He hit one of the muffins, causing the explosion that injured him."

He stood a bit taller, looking more professional. "As of my last check, I have repaired most of his tissues, broken bones, torn skin, and so forth. There are four exceptions." He gestured toward the most obvious. "His spine has been injured from being thrown through Goran's stone door. There is some sort of magic in that area preventing healing. He also has some dark curse damage on two fingers on his left hand, from some sort of artifact that didn't go well with the explosion."

He glared at the exposed death eater mark. "I also was unable to remove that marking at this time. I do admit that I didn't try too hard though."

Poppy sighed. "I understand. Considering the size of the explosion he is lucky to be alive."

Harry glared at the unmoving man. "He is, indeed." He looked back at the nurse. "Professor McGonagall is contacting the DMLE about the incident, please inform her that I will be in Merp in the Library when she needs to contact me."

Poppy's eyes glared slightly. "Now wait one moment young man. I may not have much experience with Troll patients, but I would like to check both of you and make sure you are both unharmed." Her wand never paused, casting numerous spells over Snape's unconscious form. "You have already healed this man as much as I am able to, and he simply needs rest... so lead me to your son so we can make sure he is ALSO just fine."

Harry softened slightly, smiling. "Thanks, Madam Pomfrey. We really appreciate it."

Together they head toward the front entrance to the castle, leaving behind an unconscious man who unknowingly had beta squad stationed in his mind.

Jim had NOT been pleased at the man's actions.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Sirius Black was eating from a table covered in fatty dishes. Compared to the twelve potions he had taken so far today, this was heaven. "Amy, please have something. This is far too much for me."

Her guilt filled eyes smiled at him. "Siri, you need to recover. You have an amazing young man who will need you to be healthy, at least physically."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh Amy, this is nothing. I will be fixed in a day or two, you'll see." He picked up some pasta covered in some thick white sauce and chicken chunks. "Can't keep a Black down, you know." His expressive eyes went a tad hard. "So what are we doing on the case?"

She sighed. "I am getting Remus Lupin and Andromeda Tonks brought into the situation." She gave a sad smile. "I know that they will be more eager than anyone to know you were really innocent. Andromeda never gave up, you know?"

Sirius sighed, rubbing at his left forearm. Shortly after he had been arrested, someone in dark robes had placed a spell looking like the dark mark on him. He had a hard time blaming people for not trusting his words, not that he had a trial to really stand up for himself.

Amelia passed him a plate with some grilled ribs and potatoes. "We are still gathering data for the case, but you are officially cleared in the Ministry. We are keeping it close to the vest so that we can try and find out what happened to Peter without warning him if he is still alive."

The thin man growled slightly. "Damn rat. Trusted him with everything, just to be betrayed." He took a vicious bite from the meat in front of him. "Amy, if I am the one to catch him, it will be... VERY hard to not kill the bastard."

Amelia almost snarled. "That creature will pay for his actions, no fear." She pulled her furious emotions back together, slightly ashamed at how expressive she had been. "As it is, we now have a description of both his forms and I put Mad-eye on the case. You know how thorough he is."

Sirius's expression took on a dreamy, slightly desperate gleam. "Amy, I am out, right? We... I am here, right? This is real?"

She gave his shoulders a solid hug, ignoring the tears on his face. "Shh, Siri. Everything is alright now. You're going to be ok. We are going to be ok." She nudged his side. "Now, eat some squash or something. All that meat is fine, but you need veggies."

He gave a watery smile. "Yeah, yeah Amy. Anything for you."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione was looking at the massive damage.

Goran was looking vaguely toward the forest.

Terry whistled. "So... what started this?"

Goran sighed. "Baking."

Hermione made a high squeak, something like a groan and a scream.

Terry grinned. "So... What were you cooking?"

"Muffins. Originally they were Hagrid's Rock Cakes."

Padma leaned over Terry's shoulder. "I think some of the rock is glowing."

Goran shrugged.

Hermione softly groaned. "Please... tell me there was something strange you added, like glycerin or something."

Goran nodded. "I added some dried fruit."

She leaped at it like a safety line. "WHAT FRUIT!?"

Goran shrugged. "Plums. I debated adding some Saskatoon Berries, but I felt it would be too much."

Terry nodded. "Well, I will steer clear of Plums in the future then."

Padma leaned in. "You will regret that when you are older you know. Balanced diet is important."

Hermione groaned. "This is so unfair. I thought I understood BAKING. Spells, fine. I am catching up on that."

"Baking shouldn't be underestimated." Harry grinned as a slightly stunned Madam Pomfrey paused seeing the destruction. "Hey everyone! Today Goran and I learned to never attack exploding muffins with unforgivable curses."

Hermione just sighed and went back into the castle. "Tell me later. Please. Recipe and everything. I need some science in this."

Padma frowned. "So... if the modified version of Hagrid's cakes explode, what did the original ones do?"

Harry grinned. "Nothing. Certainly didn't get digested, at least. I found some rocks that were actually EASIER to eat than those things."

Goran waved a hand. "It's an acquired taste, Da. You got to try a few before they really grow on you."

Madam Pomfrey sighed and began waving her wand into interesting patterns. "Sorry, Mr. Potter... uh, Goran Potter. I am not sure how many of my diagnostics will work since your skin naturally absorbs and repels magic."

He grinned. "Nah, I'm fine. Da pulled us out before anything happened. Bet he can fix my place up too."

Harry nodded. "I wanted to wait and see if Madam Bones needed pictures or anything first, but yeah. Fixing it won't take long. I may add room for Hagrid too, since his house took damage."

Terry grunted. "You mean, got flattened."

Harry sighed. "AGAIN, I would like to emphasize that this whole... situation... was unintentional. Aside from a man attacking a muffin, no one was hurt. No animals were hurt. I can fix damages. We should be fine."

Madam Pomfrey sighed, patting Goran on the arm. "Let me know if you feel any pain, alright Goran?" She leveled a glare at the shorter Potter. "And you, Mr. Potter..."

He nodded. "I know, I will let you know Ma'am."

She sighed. "Thank you, Harry. PLEASE let me go a few months without having a visit. Take your safety more seriously."

Harry grinned and nodded, watching her head back to the hospital wing.

Padma leaned in. "So... What's going to happen to Snape?"

He pulled Padma's hand and led her and Terry back toward the library, avoiding a fake hallway and dodging behind a wall to get through a cloth floor. "Well, he will need a wheelchair, or a magical equivalent. Walking will not be an option for him."

Harry pushed a statue, revealing a staircase with every other step upside-down. "Jim also deployed a squad into Snape's mind while I was healing him." Harry sighed as the Library came into view. "At this point, they will ensure he never casts an unforgivable again. They will also prevent any plots against me or my interests from being successful if possible without giving themselves away."

He frowned. "I don't want to control the man, but I can not risk another attack on me or my son. If he changes or seems to move on to another topic, Beta team will probably withdraw."

Padma leaned into him a bit. "So... how likely is that, do you think?"

Harry sighed. "Not at all, really. At least this way I can ignore him safely, since that squad will report to Watcher if something comes up." Harry looked at the shelves of knowledge. "I want something more in life, like healing or making cool stuff or learning new things. You know, the fun stuff."

Hermione, sitting at a nearby table surrounded by what appeared to be cookbooks raised a hand. "I have at least SIX books that says today was impossible! PLEASE tell me you have that recipe Harry."

Harry grinned and wandered over to help a fellow student explore the world of explosive cooking.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Amelia Bones was tired. She had spent six hours AFTER her shift keeping the man who used to be her world together as he tried to heal himself.

And now Kingsley was holding a jar of black tar and looking like had discovered the holy grail.

She rubbed her eyes. "Kingsley, please tell me this is important. I was supposed to be off the job right now."

He nearly giggled. "You know how you said that Potter boy had amazing memories?"

She sat up, her mind forcing her to focus. "He remembered that night then?"

He was smirking. "Apparently that night, You-Know-Who tried to put something inside the boy, in his head. A creature of some sort."

She blanched. Something from HIM inside a boy? "Please tell me that someone got it out of him."

He grinned. "Harry kicked its ass when he was eight years old."

Huh.

She looked at the jar. "Is this the remains of it then?"

He grinned again. "Nope. After killing that creature, Harry found himself full of a lot of unexpected memories... and locked them away." He tapped the jar. "This is a copy of ALL memories that a certain Dark Lord had, from birth until trying to put that thing in Harry's head."

Her eyes widened... then narrowed. "Get me the head of the Unspeakable Department twelve minutes ago."

Sleep could wait.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Harry was bored.

Right now there were several Auror's outside taking wizarding photos, measuring things, and in general just standing around. One was wearing a chef's hat. Probably the cooking expert.

They wouldn't let him help.

Susan's Aunt apparently had gotten most of the DMLE and... well, a bunch of people doing all kinds of stuff. Apparently the memories Harry had provided were so large and complicated that every look was showing SOMETHING to do.

They ALSO didn't want Harry to do anything.

The girls had also gotten together for another 'Girl Talk' evening, and Neville had asked Terry for help with a gardening project he was doing for Professor Sprout as extra credit.

Harry knew better than to get involved there.

Right now he was looking at one of the reports from the Goblin's Jeweler clan covering results from testing his gems. Apparently they thought that growing the gems from the middle out would increase resistance of magic passage, allowing more power to pass through the runes.

It was interesting, but he was tired of staring at diamonds all day.

Thankfully the most recent letter was something new. There were a large number of properties that Harry may be able to use for a new home... but he wanted one that was terrible. The more problems with it, the cheaper the land cost, and Harry had options normal wizards didn't.

One property that had really caught his eye was called "Drake's Island". It was only six and half acres in size, mostly made from volcanic stones. Not exactly a white tropical beach, but Harry wanted safety first, aesthetics second... and this place had potential.

It was named after the squib Sir Francis Drake, a privateer who had actually circumnavigated the whole Earth. Apparently he was governor of the place for years, and had built the island up to become a defensive position against French and Spanish invaders.

It had barracks, a church, and some impressive guns on it. Those were apparently not included in the price though, and would be taken if purchased. Apparently a wizard named Dan McCauley had tried to turn the place into a Hotel area and had bought the place for 64,327 Galleons... and had run into issues when an accident during construction had caused enough delays to make it unprofitable. The owner was willing to let it go for 70k Galleons, and apparently Nagnok thought he could bring it down to 61k pretty easily.

Plus the idea of owning an island was awesome.

The problem was transport. The Floo was... uncomfortable. So were port keys. In fact, aside from shifting and the portal used to get onto platform 9 and 3/4's, ALL transportation sucked.

Harry sighed and made some notes. Nagnok would probably know about older, unused methods of travel. Shifting didn't feel bad when used correctly, so there HAD to be better ways to have friends over than shoving them into a fireplace.

Focusing on the island, he did see one flaw. He had some grand ideas, and there didn't seem to be enough room for them all... on the surface.

Hmm.

Harry added some more notes to his return letter. He would need aerial maps, maps of any magical lay-lines that were nearby, seismic maps, and maps of nearby towns. If he COULD come up with some good transportation methods, buying a small house in town connected to the island would be ideal. Maybe another house near Aunt Petunia?

Not like he was having funding issues right now, and having a secure network of houses could have long term benefits. Plus if he made his ward stone too strong, it would only take over ocean instead of neighbor houses.

Locking other people out of their property would be... awkward. Embarrassing too, if he had to rely on the ministry to fix it. Probably would get fined for it too.

He grinned as he finished the notes, wrapping it into a bundle and casting a Stasis to hold it together till it was delivered.

This would probably turn into a big project, but those tend to be fun ones anyway.

Harry absently held up an arm, feeling Hedwig drop from the window and land perfectly. Carefully attaching the letter, he paused and pressed his forehead to his darling owl. Hedwig gave a soft hoot, she would be fine. She also would like some bacon next time, shifty wizard.

Harry chuckled and nodded, watching the owl fly through a window and into the distance.

Maybe he should go look at flying again. Silly brooms or not, it could be fun.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Minerva was watching with soft resignation as Amelia Bones tried to talk to Albus Dumbledore.

It wasn't going well.

"Albus, please help me. We have SO MUCH memories to go through, any keywords or notes you may have thought of may help us find out what we are looking for so much faster. You-Know-Who was alive for over fifty years, that is a LOT of memories."

Albus smiled and handed her another orange.

There were about fifty of them on the floor now. Honestly, where did he get these?

Amelia was close to tears. She was tired, emotionally drained, and had been up for almost two days now. She gently placed the orange down on the desk.

"Albus... please. I need help. I... We could actually ensure he was stopped. All those deaths could be put to rest forever, my brother Edgar could rest. Please, help me."

Minerva was startled by how serious Albus looked. Gently, with an aging hand, he reached down for that last orange, and held out a hand.

Amelia almost sobbed, but placed her hand forward.

He carefully placed the orange in her hand, and gestured for... her other hand?

It seemed to be causing him some sort of pain, but he gently took her other hand and placed her wand in it. He gestured.

Minerva caught Amelia's shocked glance. Together, they reached forward, as Amelia tapped the orange with her wand... and it unfolded.

The rind slowly peeled itself, showing the inside was a mass of yellowed paper. As she held her hand like a child holding a kitten, the paper twisted and folded into a simply bound book.

'A Study of Horcruxes, by Albus Dumbledore'

Both witches looked at the pile of fruit.

Amelia looked at the wall. "Didn't Professor Flitwick eat one of those?"

Minerva sighed. "Two. He ate two."

~~~Core Threads~~~

Severus Snape woke slowly, feeling a pinching pain in his back. His legs were restrained somehow... what in the bloody Merlin was going on.

Before he could get a good snarl going, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office... and she didn't look entirely happy to see him. "Good afternoon, Professor Snape. You should be aware that there is currently an investigation going on about the incident that occurred in Mr. Potter's home earlier today. The DMLE is involved."

He grumbled. "Bloody brat is full of lies. Anything he said was false."

She raised an eyebrow. "He claimed that you tried to kill a muffin with a killing curse."

His automatic denial was paused by his own survival instinct. He quickly realized that any statement such as 'I was trying to kill the Boy-Who-Lived' or 'I just wanted to slaughter his child' would likely go badly for him. "Of course. It... It was a... terrible muffin."

Why did his head hurt so BAD. "In fact, all muffins are bad. Death is too easy for them. Should be drawn, buttered, and toasted."

At this point, Madam Pomfrey's expression was more concerned than he expected. "Maybe you should lay down a bit more. I think you may have taken a harder hit on the head than I realized."

He gave a sigh. "Fine. I had muffin to do today anyway."

WHY did his head hurt so strongly?

~~~Core Threads~~~

Hermione was not sure if she should be happy to be involved with a group of girls her age, sad that she was being pulled away from her books, or relieved to have something other than combustible cooking to think about.

Although watching Daphne hurl various pillows at Tracey for risqué comments was somehow very relaxing.

Tracey giggled. "I'm going to have to get cooking lessons from the Potters soon." Her eyes went a bit out of focus. "Well, maybe more lessons than just that. Lots of muscles for an 11 year old, you know."

Hannah nodded. "I talked to him a bit about it. He has to remember to age himself. He pretty much can change his body how he likes."

Daphne paused... then blushed, and threw a pillow preemptively.

Tracey grinned. "Yeah, I deserve that. Although what I was GOING to say was probably going to be worse than whatever delicious thing you just thought, Daph."

Hannah caught this pillow in mid flight. "Hey, I think you two should swap sides so one couch doesn't run out of all padding. Like, every five or so pillows just swap seats."

Padma grinned. "I think we should find a spell to make temporary pillows, like the snowball thing. That way we can make ones shaped like stuff and throw them."

Susan grinned back. "Like puppy pillows?"

Tracey giggled "Nope, Potter pillows. Bet they would be fun to squeeze too."

Daphne sighed. "Maybe I would get better results practicing silencing charms."

The girl nodded. "Lots of good uses for those." She smirked. "Not till we are older, of course."

Daphne paused half way through agreeing, blushed, and threw another pillow. "NOT LIKE THAT. Merlin, what's got you going so bad?"

She shrugged. "Seeing Harry as a Dad is kind of cool to me."

There was a bit of a pause. Hermione raised a hand. "I thought it was nice too. Goran maybe be huge, but he really looks up to Harry."

Hannah leaned into Susan. "Yeah, he would be great with kids I think. I hope he stays like that when he gets older."

Susan leaned back into her seat. "Harry is a good guy. It would be really easy for him to abuse the amount of power he has, you know?"

Daphne nodded. "Magic aside, his family wasn't exactly poor BEFORE he began crafting custom diamonds. And politically, anything The-Boy-Who-Lives wants will likely happen. He has massive public support."

Tracey grinned. "Magic NOT-aside, if magic was fire he would be the sun. A cute sun. Who likes cute animals. And is good with kids. And did that kissy magic thing that REALLY was nice..." She dodged the pillow. "And he listens when you talk, even if it isn't the best idea."

Daphne hugged a pillow and whispered. "If I need him, he will come and help."

The other girls nodded.

Hermione grinned. "And he likes BOOKS! Honestly, finding a guy who likes to read is SO HARD. Like it makes you diseased or something."

Padma raised a hand. "He helped me get the baby ducks and baby chickens separated in my world." She looked at the faces. "What? They were like EVERYWHERE. Feather explosion."

Hannah grinned, hugging Susan. "He helped my power stabilize, so I can keep up with my best friend in class. Even when I tried to join Susan with her Aunt in training, magic never worked as well as it did after Harry fixed me."

Susan hugged her back with a soft smile. "He treats me as a person, not just as the niece of someone important."

Tracey gave a deep nod. "And he saved me some peanut brittle. Order of Merlin, first class for sure."

Daphne sighed, rubbing her forehead.


	44. Foundations of a New Home

Harry took a deep breath, enjoying the salty air.

It was the first day of Christmas vacation, and after some annoying arguments with several people (And a very strange argument about llamas with Headmaster Dumbledore) he had finally made it to Gringotts.

And now he was on Drake Island.

He looked down at his notes. The purchase had gone through pretty quickly, and at this point the few magicals on the island had cleared off and given the boy room to work. The next step could be done with people around... but would probably scare the crud out of them.

Most of the island was rock, some sand, and dirt. The top however had some grass, some buildings. The Military Barracks curved along one edge of the island, a strange backwards C shape from the images.

He compared two maps. The center of the map, of the island... over there. It was really close to the only trees on the island...

Harry took a deep breath. Today was clear, and he could easily see the nearby city of Plymouth. This island was about 190 miles south-west of London, so it was far from his normal hangouts... but that was part of the appeal.

Being able to see the ocean was just a bonus.

He carefully sat and leaned against one of the trees, looking at the schematics drawn up by Bogrod. This ward stone would be interesting. Apparently the goblin had taken up Harry's project, pushing the Jeweler clan into theoretical research and having Harry construct prototype gems to verify their theories.

At first Harry was going to just build a HUGE diamond for the ward stone, until he was told that the size was magically important as much as the shape was. The chance of finding a gem the right size but still large enough to be crafted into a magically powerful shape was part of the reason why Harry's gems had earned his account so much funding.

The new ward stone was going to be small, apparently 49 inches across (7^2 of course) and 7 inches thick. Each of the seven layers would be a single inch in thickness, with 7 rings of support runes along the edge (3 inches from the edge, just in case).

He had made a prototype in Gringotts, which he had given the Jeweler clan. In return, they had purchased the island, covered the costs of almost all his raw materials, and was covering port key creation for product delivery this week.

Bogrod had also told him that the clan was treating the stone like it was holy. Gem crafter goblins from even the most outlaying branches of the clan were traveling to Britain's Gringotts branch to examine the creation, test it, and just be in the same vault as it.

Selling or using it was pretty much off the table at this point.

Harry pulled another bar of diamond out, laying them in a grid pattern. He supposed he could have charged anything for the prototype he had created... but Bogrod and the Jeweler's clan had supported him heavily in the last week or so, and had provided lots of raw materials for free BEFORE this. They had shown him respect, courtesy, and had treated him fairly as a customer.

And he appreciated it heavily.

The research the goblins had done had all been theoretical and exploratory. Since no one before had the ability to create diamonds from scratch, they had generated an entire branch of magic to both help explain what was going on and suggest methods that Harry could try to enhance the resulting products. True there was a selfish component to it all, but the boy had seen that glint in the artist's eyes.

This had been a life dream of several gem masters. The ability to test theories of stone crafting in ways unheard of, without wasting gems through bad tests, possibly losing creations worth thousands of galleons.

Harry grinned. The ward tests and prototypes had been simple compared to the calculations required determining how far each seven pointed star had to be rotated between each layer. A few prototypes had EXPLODED, so it was vital that the math work out. And the material choices had turned something interesting up... apparently while Diamond worked great for general results, Ruby worked best when tested with warding runes.

With care Harry lifted the Ruby brick and placed it near the diamond ones. He frowned as his hands lit with power and thick ropes began harvesting materials under his attention. Three layers of diamond, one layer of ruby, then another three layers of diamond.

And embedded in the center Ruby Seven Star Gem would be the ward runes, written in his own silver carefully washed in his own freely given blood.

The blood soaked silver had been a point of debate for the last two days. Official Ministry decree made the process against the law, due to the resulting wards being nearly uncrackable (Which was bad for Aurors when trying to catch villains) and the temptation to use someone ELSE'S blood (Again, an issue with bad guys). It had taken several large bribes to get approval for this project, and an even larger one to keep the entire process quiet.

Under his hands Harry watched the first seven star form. The outer two layers of the diamond layers were built in rings, like a tree. This would prevent magic from easily passing into or out of these sections. The middle one however would be grown like streaks from the center to the edge, to encourage flow and absorption from the natural magical field.

He frowned. Before, on all the other creations, he had felt the stones sing as he combined them... but just like with the prototype, this one was quiet. Not a normal quiet either... the quiet of a hundred people in a room watching something important.

The stone was holding its breath.

As he reached the middle layer, he began creating the Ruby star. This material felt like silk to his fingers, rather than the liquid gold tingle that diamond left on his skin. With a slight grimace, he pulled the silver as a thin thread of magic coated it once again in a thin layer of his blood.

It didn't hurt, but it felt... strange. Like he was pushing himself into the metal, or that he was being pulled into the stone.

Runes for protection against water penetration, against spiritual energy, against physical mass above certain velocities, against combustion, against insects, against mammals below a certain size. More.

Runes to detect intent. Premeditated harm, connected to a forced port key connection. Should shove them into the ocean. Non-Premeditated harm, force them into the designated point. Harry sighed, this part would need to reference the secondary diamond sheet that contained variables in rune form.

Apparition from outside restricted to a designated point, move port keys here as well. Anyone trying to leave would only be able to from another designated point, a separate one from the inbound one.

Finally, detection. Species, general intent, location, direction, speed, acceleration, magics, artifacts... that should cover it. Watcher could plug into the grid when it was ready, and make judgments from that point on.

Finally, the part that Harry had spent the most time on, the one rune that he had to ask for help with.

This was an interesting pattern he called the 'Knowledge Field Rune'. It was the information restriction component of the Fidelius charm, the part that actually tagged information in visitors and restricted it from being shared if that user was not informed about a specific secret.

It locked away the secret, so that only the secret keeper could share it and allow others to connect the dots for that information.

And Harry was going to have two. One for the island itself, and another for who was ON that island. Even if somehow people snuck onto the island, they would be unable to remember who was actually there, nor would they react to the local citizens.

Harry could just walk up and stun them all, and they wouldn't be allowed to know he was THERE on the island. For that matter, THEY wouldn't be allowed to know that they were on the island.

That was the part that had created a three day debate with goblin advisers. In the end they had created a small scale test to prove who was right. One goblin in a structure with both runes, as his own secret keeper. The others would try to get in, 1 hour without the first secret, the rest knowing where the structure was.

Harry had found it hilarious. Kraigson, the goblin in the rune covered hut, had simply walked up to each invading warrior and knocked them out. There had even been a small argument about what was causing everyone to pass out, half way through.

Needless to say, a similar rune was being constructed in Gringotts now to hide the fact that goblin warriors existed in the bank caves. The thought of anyone trying to invade the vaults NOW seemed humorous, really.

However, these runes had a cost... and it was a huge one. The larger the area covered, the more magic was required for the initial setup. And Harry wanted this to work... downwards.

The island was not huge... but he also owned the land below. And as his friends had quite quickly suggested, there was a LOT of below.

As the last of the blood red silver etched inside the Ruby star, he felt the gem turn... hungry. Moving steadily, he tried to create the last three diamond seven stars as fast as he could.

As his fingers began to cramp, the last of the stone was completed... and now for the moment of truth.

Releasing a rope of power from both hands, he gently reached into the core layer of diamond, the middle layer second from the top and bottom of the stone. Using some of the last of his blood silver, he created a spiral that focused down to the center of the star...

The world jerked.

His hands pulled back as he felt... like a pull, a draw was trying to shove him forward.

The ward stone was trying to absorb him for power.

Quickly he opened the second bottomless pouch he had brought and began moving obsidian circles of stone around the ward gem, making sure to use none of his own magic for now. Each obsidian power stone had a similar spiral as the ones he had just created, but these glowed red with power.

One of the magical disaster lands had been so cheap Harry had purchased it, and these obsidian stones had been used to absorb the massive waves of raw magic that had corrupted the property. Thankfully, that raw power would be of use now... assuming Harry could get them all out and setup before his ward gem REALLY began to absorb power.

Even as the twelfth stone hit the ground, Harry felt the power draw increasing. In slight desperation he held the storage bag upside down, pouring stones on the ward gem, walking backwards as he went. He had slightly underestimated... oh. Heavily underestimated the power draw.

His feet were starting to slip, being pulled toward the Gem. As it got harder to take another step away, Harry took a risk and activated his emergency port key...

~~~Core Threads~~~

Green eyes slowly opened. He was in a cave... not the one he expected. On a bed? Well, a nice one at least. The walls were embedded with white crystal. It felt... clinical.

Ah. Goblin resting area. Closest thing to a hospital that they allowed wizards to visit.

"So... I assume you modified your ward design."

He coughed. "Hey, Bogrod."

A walking stick lightly tapped his head. "You know, we spent a long time designing the ward layout on that thing. Even used a few time-turners to get extra hours."

Harry gave a weak grin. "Sorry, Bogrod."

The older goblin sighed and sat in a stone chair next to the bed. "Do I even want to KNOW what you altered?"

He grinned.

Bogrod rubbed his eyes. Headaches were fairly common for him now. "Well, we are not entirely sure what happened. You showed up with over 90% of your power drained, your power stones were missing so we assume you used them. We sent a couple of human employees to check on the stone, and we can't contact them now."

Harry had a shocked look. "Neither had any magical ancestry, right?"

The goblin nodded. "I remember the warnings you gave us. They are not responding to any of our messages though, nor can we contact them by magic mirror or reversed port key."

Harry settled back into the bed. "Nope, I am not surprised. You should port key them some food, water, and change of clothing though. Send along any power stones we had left in reserve too."

Bogrod sighed as he made some notes and passed them to a guard outside the room. "So... what did you change?"

The boy grinned. "I doubled the knowledge charm radius. I also added two magic draining runes on the second and sixth layer of the 7 layered seven star diamond ward stone."

The goblin had an expression of horror. "That... the power requirements... it..." He glared at the boy. "It will absorb magic in a huge radius to power the runes. A MASSIVELY huge radius. Possibly for miles."

He shrugged. "It shouldn't permanently mess anything up though."

Bogrod grumbled. "Could destroy a marriage or two. Witches use more maintenance magic than you realize. And Merlin help us if anyone was flying a broom at the time."

Harry winced. "Ah... right. Didn't think of that. So... probably a few consequences?"

Bogrod sighed. "Well, since you are powering the information part of the Fidelius charm... probably not. They can't blame your island for causing it if they don't know your island exists."

He grinned. "See? All's well that ends well." He frowned. "Check that no one was hurt, would you? I will cover any hospital bills or whatever. Make sure you use non-magical transport as well."

The goblin snorted. "And what will YOU be up to, during this?"

Harry yawned. "I was near ground zero. A nap at least is a good idea." He sighed and looked toward the direction of his Gringotts office. "I suppose I should make some more power stones and send them to that magical waste site to begin charging as well. Might as well use that power for something constructive."

The armored creature got up, groaning. "Well, make a note quickly before passing out. Wouldn't want your son to get worried if you sleep for a while. If you wish, we can let him wait on you to get better here while we try to rescue our employees from your island."

Harry sighed. "I am going to have to pay them for this, won't I?"

He nodded grinning. "They may be human, but they are still goblins in heart. Add 10% for hazard pay."

Harry grinned back. "Of course. Working with me IS hazardous, after all."

Bogrod snorted. "Working in the same country as you is hazardous." He patted the wizards shoulder. "Sleep well, Harry. Crazy changes or not, you have done an amazing act today. I am sure the Jeweler clan will be begging to visit your stone at some point."

He smiled weakly as sleep started to claim him. "With the amount of power in it, I am slightly worried that even I will have issues visiting my ward gem."

Bogrod chuckled as he exited the health ward. This last month or so had made him feel dozens of years younger... stress or not, Harry really made life interesting.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Vernon Dursley sighed. "Petunia, darling, relax. The boy knows what he is doing. Hell, half the time he seems more mature than all of us."

Petunia was reacting to her stress by cooking an enormous dinner. The table was already sagging under a meal so complex and large it was bringing back disturbing flashbacks to a few years back.

She sighed. "Dear, he is just so young... already a father, too." She paused, holding some fresh biscuits and balancing a jar of jam with some butter. "I... I thought he would be here today. I missed him."

Vernon placed his paper on the side table and stood, wrapping his wife in a hug after she placed the baked goods down. "Darling, he said he would visit. And as strange as that... world... is, he keeps his promises." He looked at the heaps of food in slight dismay. "You do realize that you have cooked ham, chicken, what appears to be three turkeys, and ribs?"

She looked at the pile. "Is pizza too much?"

He gave a weak grin. "Maybe. Just a little." He looked at the mounds of sides. "In fact, we should invite some neighbors over." Slightly under his breath, he grumbled. "ALL the neighbors. And their pets."

Petunia looked over the potato inspired mountain towards the egg islands. "Really? Do you think we will have enough?"

He sighed and hugged her, trying to pull her away from anything cooking related. "Maybe a small break, darling. Just... relax for a while."

He finally got her to the living room when he heard Dudley began to freak out about the table starting to bend. Why get a metal table, they said. No reason to bother, they said. Wood works fine for this, they said.

After placing her on the couch he rolled up both arms and prepared to move food from the most structurally weak parts of the table to the counter. True love sometimes required a man to cover himself in various pasta dishes while protecting furniture.

~~~Core Threads~~~

Goran sighed in relief when he finally opened the door and saw his Da. The goblins had been polite, but very nervous. Something about having to look THAT far up seemed to mess with their heads a little. He quietly sat on the floor next to the bed, which left him still looking downwards at his Da's sleeping face.

They had talked about several possible homes, and Goran had felt pretty happy with the island option... but he hadn't realized how drained Da would become working on it.

It had worried him. His Da, small as he was, always seemed so big. He knew what he was doing, he was so strong, he was always relaxed... but right now he just looked so tired.

Goran gently moved a massive hand and gently moved hair from his Da's face. He seemed so tiny, now that he was sleeping. Not like the ball of pure energy Goran was used to.

He leaned into the stone wall of the cave, listening to his father's quiet breathing. From what that goblin had said, this had been a close one. Apparently Da had almost created a whirlpool for magic, and had nearly absorbed himself into it.

Even now, three humans were trapped on that island. And probably angry.

He grinned, remembering some of the magic absorption tests that his Da had practiced yesterday. Watching a wizard try to cast spells close to the power stone while it was charging was... hilarious.

They would cast a stunner, Da would toss a rock. Stunner would zip into the rock... and then his Da would just wander away, watching a wizard trying to cast dozens of spells in growing annoyance.

The goblins watching at the time had enjoyed it pretty heavily at the time too.

Goran sighed as he tried to relax. His home was patched, but not completed. Hagrid's home was... well, standing again. They were going to ask Harry to make a stone addition for the Giant, so both could have a strong place to relax during the school year. Hagrid's hut was nice... but flammable, and not strong against brute force.

Idly he looked at the roof of the cavern, seeing the softly glowing gems. His Da would talk sometimes about becoming a medic or doctor... but he seemed to be really good at construction.

"Son?"

Goran shifted quickly, seeing green eyes glinting with happiness. "Da! How did it go?"

Harry grinned. "Great, really. Well, except for that last part. Almost got eaten by the damn stone." His gaze floated toward the roof. "Next time I think I will have a delay on the charging rune so I can get farther back."

Goran laughed. "Next time? Next time have someone else activate it, someone less connected to their magic."

His Da chuckled. "Well, fair enough. I think you will like the place, Goran. Especially once I start construction on our home under the island itself." His eyes glazed over, planing things. "We have sea water available, maybe some glass windows to watch the fish. It would be like... a really REALLY big aquarium. Maybe add some reef's to attract something to watch."

Goran had a slight frown. "What about food? The forest has some amazing stuff."

Harry grinned. "I plan on at least one artificial forest under there. Pick the creatures that taste best and I will add them to the area, like a living sushi bar or something." His grin got a bit thoughtful. "Maybe another layer with just farmland. Did we do research on magical methods of food production? There has to be something that can accelerate time or whatever."

Goran shrugged. "I only eat things, and cook a few dishes. Ask one of the girls for that kind of information."

Harry nodded. "Hermione probably knows something by now, since we gave her details after the muffin incident."

His son seemed to be more relaxed, now that Harry was apparently fine. "Well, if we want to be self sufficient, a magical method of separating fresh water from ocean water would be good."

Harry nodded. "I was thinking since we were going downwards anyway, ground water could work. Still, there is a lot of ocean to work with... makes logical sense."

Goran gave a careful hug to Harry. "You are fine... right Da?"

His tiny arms hugged the huge boy. "Of course, son. I had an escape plan and everything. Thought the whole thing out."

Huge eyes looked at him accusingly. "Even the passing out part?"

Harry looked aside. "Uh... yep. All according to plan. A deep, complicated plan that requires we not talk about it. And that you get me some orange juice. And a bagel."

Goran chuckled. "No problem, Da. Take it easy, alright?"

Harry grinned. "Of course. I mean, when haven't I?"

Harry sighed. "Fine, I will just relax and eat and drink like an invalid. How did you even know I was planning on escaping?"

Goran rolled his eyes. "You're you, Da. And you weren't even willing to take it easy after Squelch ripped off your arm."

Harry grumbled. "I got better, darn it. Overbearing nurse made me stay the whole night anyway."

Goran moved to the door. "Rest Da. I will go get your snacks if you just recover from your most recent near-death encounter."

Harry sighed. "The things I do for bagels."


End file.
